Apply: 20 Young Africans Set for Climate Justice Fellowship, "Our Stories Told on Our Behalf"

• The DEAN Initiative has launched the Lake Chad Climate Justice Fellowship, a two-year programme for 20 young climate activists from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon
• The fellowship aims to amplify African voices in climate advocacy through storytelling, data, and community-based action projects
• The initiative will build regional networks, promote decolonised narratives, and give fellows opportunities to participate in global climate events

Abuja, FCT - The DEAN Initiative has announced the launch of the Lake Chad Climate Justice Fellowship, a 24-month programme that will bring together 20 young climate activists from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon to advance climate justice and tell African climate stories through African voices.

The fellowship, organised in collaboration with the Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF) and the African Climate Fellows, seeks to build capacity among youth in the Lake Chad region to respond to the growing climate crisis and its intersection with gender-based violence, insecurity, and displacement.

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Each fellow will receive a seed grant of $2,000 and access to resources valued at $8,000 to design and implement community-based projects. The initiative also aims to foster regional networks and promote decolonised climate narratives.

“This is not a quick fix or a training programme for the sake of it. We’re building long-term power here,” said Doren Oho, Project Officer and Grants and Resource Management Associate at the DEAN Initiative, during a press briefing in Abuja.

Climate: Local voices, global platforms

Oho said the programme is designed to enhance advocacy through storytelling and data, enabling the fellows to document the impact of climate change on local communities.

“We are empowering the fellows to design and implement community-based action projects,” Oho added. “Our people are not voiceless. They’ve just been unheard.”

Participants will also have opportunities to travel to international climate events to share their work and challenge dominant narratives about the Lake Chad region.

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Redefining the narrative

Semiye Michael, executive director of the DEAN Initiative, emphasised the importance of allowing local voices to lead climate discourse about their own region.

“For too long, stories from Lake Chad have been told by people who don’t fully understand the lived realities,” Michael said.

“Our data are collected and interpreted on our behalf. Whatever is made out of those stories becomes our reality.”

Michael expressed optimism that the fellowship would reverse this trend by giving African youth the tools and platforms to reclaim their stories.

Young Africans urged to apply

Michael urged young climate advocates from across the region to apply, stating that the initiative will support solution-oriented strategies and promote knowledge sharing among fellows.

“They would also have the opportunity to share some of these fragile stories across the world through fully funded international travel,” he said.

The Lake Chad Climate Justice Fellowship is expected to be a key platform in equipping the next generation of African climate leaders and reshaping global climate narratives from the grassroots up.

Source: Legit.ng