Africa

Mama Fikile Ntshangase was shot dead at her home in Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal province, by four gunmen on 22 October. She was Vice-Chairperson of a sub-committee of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (MCEJO) and actively opposed the expansion of the Tendele coal mine near her home. “We feel that she  … Read more

“We are the guardians of land, seeds, life and love” is the slogan of the Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA) of Southern Africa, a movement of rural women founded in 2009 with a membership of over 100 000 women, mainly farmers from South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Mauritius, Zambia and  … Read more

Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG) is suing the government over the commercialization of GM cowpeas and GM rice for safety issues of concern for the organization, although commercial distribution has not been approved yet. Edwin Baffour, Director of Communications of FSG, explained to RWR why they are suing the government: “Right now  … Read more

After many months of debate and with a strong support from the public opinion, the Liberian government passed the Land Rights Act in September, 2018, which officially recognizes the rights of local communities over their productive lands, without the need of long entitlement proceedings. With this huge step, Liberia could  … Read more

The lives of human rights defenders in Africa are seriously threatened. For example, in Cameroon, on 26 May, human rights defender Elvis Brown Luma Mukuna received a death threat via a call from an unknown number. Ten days earlier, two men had forcibly entered Elvis’s house, abducted his younger brother  … Read more

This was the third meeting of Friends of the Earth International´s Working Group since it was created. From May 2 to 5, its members analyzed what has been done so far and the steps to follow. Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) seeks to mainstream the feminist perspective and gender  … Read more

Shell is one of the biggest climate polluters in the world. This transnational company has known about the severity of climate change and the impacts of oil drilling for years, but has not only misled the public on the issue, it continues drilling for oil. On April 5, Friends of  … Read more

Our people are dying due to intensified weather events, like cyclone IDAI that hit Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe on March 14th, and the precedent and related flooding in the rivers of the region, causing utter devastation and suffering. We know that, in Mozambique, we are on the front line of  … Read more

March 21 marks the International Day of Forests. This date was chosen by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in order to raise awareness about the importance of forests. This year, the theme is “Forests and Education”. However, for the World Rainforest Movement (WRM) the first  … Read more

March 14th marks the International Day of Action against Dams and for Rivers. Mobilizations around the world denounced the socioenvironmental impacts of these construction works that operate in hydroelectric and mining projects. The Climate Justice and Energy Program of Friends of the Earth International expressed its solidarity with the communities  … Read more