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We started 2024 hitting the ground running. Our work this year will be focused on building a culture of life. This will involve using all cultural tools to aid regeneration, reparation, and the restoration of what has been damaged. Our annual team-building retreat was centered on this theme. Read more about it and our other activities in this edition of your newsletter.
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Hello there,
Welcome to 2024. Here’s what we were up to in February.
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We opposed Shell’s divestment
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We have keenly observed the scheming by Shell to sell off its onshore assets in Nigeria despite clear protestations by communities and civil society organizations. Given the well-established social, health, economic, and ecological impacts of Shell’s operation, it is inconceivable that the company intends to merely sell its holdings and go. Read our demands here.
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Annual Team Building Retreat
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Our annual team retreat and partners strategy review meeting was held from 12 to 17 February. The meeting was an avenue to carefully review and identify areas of improvement, and strategise for the new year. We discussed a myriad of topics including wellness, partnership engagement, multilateralism, gender mainstreaming, and building community solidarity. Here are some pictures from the retreat.
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Nnimmo Bassey to receive the 2024 Wallenberg Medal
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The Wallenberg Medal is a humanitarian award given to outstanding humanitarians whose actions on behalf of the defenseless and oppressed reflect the heroic commitment and sacrifice of Raoul Wallenberg. Nnimmo Bassey is set to receive the Wallenberg Medal as the 30th recipient globally. He will also deliver the Wallenberg Lecture on September 10, 2024, in Ann Arbor City, Michigan. Read more here.
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We spent some time on air
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This month, we’ve had several radio appearances that you can catch up with on our Facebook page. Hear about agroecology and food sovereignty here. Listen to community members from Eteo Elementary discuss the impacts extractivism has had on their land here. Listen to community members from Okoro-Utip talk about losing their once-healthy environment here.
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Validating a portal on climate change
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On February 19, the West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP) held a one-day workshop to discuss and validate indicators for the development of an early warning portal on climate change, crime, and conflict in coastal communities of West Africa. The workshop discussed ecological impact parameters, community monitor training, portal design, and report indicators.
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On the 24th, Nnimmo Bassey was in London for the War on Want Festival of Solidarity and Resistance. It was a gathering that celebrated our struggles and provided a platform for movements across the world to connect, inspire, and plan together. Amongst other topics, the festival discussed climate justice, worker’s rights, and economic justice. Nnimmo Bassey spoke at the opening ceremony and on a panel on “Putting the Just in the Just Transition”
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Our training for farmers in monitoring and fighting land grabbing continued this month. Through a series of meetings in Eteo, Rivers State, and Okoro-Utip, Akwa Ibom State, we taught farmers to challenge extractivism and land grabbing in their communities. We also trained them on agroecology, biodiversity protection and mangrove restoration.
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Can young voices make a difference?
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We held an X space to discuss the role of youths in climate action. Ukpono Bassey, Olumide Idowu, and Johndick Perfect spoke in a conversation moderated by Arekpitan Ikhenaode. The speakers discussed the role of youth in decision-making, intergenerational dialogue, movement building, and art as a tool for social change. Don’t miss our next space. Follow us on X @ecohomef.
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We were in Makoko on the 28th to launch Nnimmo Bassey’s latest book, “I See the Invisible”. We also heard from community members about how they’ve been able to survive the impacts of climate change and preserve their culture despite external influences that seek to destroy their environment and livelihoods. Visit the live stream here.
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A Victory for the Struggle!
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A worrisome Solar Radiation Management proposal submitted by Switzerland (supported by Monaco, Senegal, and Guinea) to be considered by the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) has been withdrawn. This withdrawal was a result of efforts from the Hands Off Mother Earth (HOME) Alliance of which we are a member. Read the HOME Africa Working Group policy brief here.
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Denouncing oil pollution in Nigeria
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The consequences of extractivism remain dire. Communities are impoverished and struggling for survival. Through our work with Development and Peace - Caritas Canada, we are helping farmers defend their rights and protect their lands. Listen to community people in Okoro-Utip speak about their struggles here and read here a reflection on tending to the land of the living.
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In October 2022, a four-person HOMEF/Academic Associate Peaceworks (AAPW) team was stranded in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. All roads leading out of the state were flooded and impassable. The team made use of their time by documenting the coping mechanisms of these flood-ravaged communities. This report is a result of that spontaneous research. Download it here.
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A new podcast episode on agroecology and food sovereignty
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Can agroecology feed the world? Can we farm with consideration for our health, the earth, and the quality of the food being produced? Listen here to Joyce Brown, HOMEF’s Director of Programmes, discuss the promise agroecology holds for farmers and consumers all over the world.
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Nnimmo Bassey releases 7th Poetry Collection
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The “I See the Invisible” collection is a collage of meditative poems that reflect on the colonial and neoliberal foundations that permit willful disconnect from nature and allow rapacious extractivism. They also speak to the criminalization of environmental defenders and the burdening of victims with survival struggles. Read the titled poem here and grab a copy here or here.
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Wondering what we’ll be doing this month? Follow us on social media @ecohomef.
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