Indigenous woman, environmental activist and member of Chad’s pastoralist Mbororo People, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim began advocating for Indigenous Peoples’ rights and environmental protection at age 12, founding the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT).
She has introduced new income revenue activities for Mbororo women and collaborative tools such as 2D and 3D participatory mapping to protect land rights, build sustainable ecosystems management, reduction of nature-based resource conflicts, strengthen climate resilience. Her vision is to grow support for Indigenous Peoples traditional knowledge, technologies and science to improve resilience and adaptation to climate change and to protect biodiversity, especially for Indigenous communities.
She is a member of key African Indigenous Peoples Organizations, including the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC) and the Réseau des Populations Autochtones et Locales pour la Gestion des Ecosystèmes Forestiers d’Afrique Centrale (REPALEAC) of which she is a founder member.
At the international level, she is dedicated to the protection of all Indigenous Peoples, from the Congo to the Arctic, Himalaya to the Pacific, to promote their wisdom and further value their knowledge in the fight against climate change. She served as co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change at the historic UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, and for COP27 in Egypt and COP28 in UAE. She was an advisor to UNFCCC COP26 and COP28. She is currently advisor for UNFCCC COP 29 and UNCCD 16.
She advances environmental protection for Indigenous Peoples by participating in international policy dialogues held around the three Rio Conventions; Climate Change (UNFCCC), Biodiversity (CBD), and Desertification (UNCCD) pressuring governments to recognize land rights of Indigenous peoples and advance their solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation. Hindou’s engagement with international environmental agendas led her to serve as co-chair of the Facilitative Working Group of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP) of the UNFCCC.
Hindou is an itinerant ambassador for Chad and, at the UN level, she has been appointed as SDG Advocate by the UN Secretary-General, and has been invited to brief UN Security Council and ECOSOC on issues related to climate change, land degradation and world insecurity. She has also delivered statements to the UN General Assembly, including at the signature of the Paris Agreement. She is currently Vice-chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).
Hindou currently chairs the WEF Steering Committee of Indigenous Peoples’ Knowledge and Leadership Network, the Planetary Guardians, and the FSI-IF Council. She is member of the Boards of Conservation International; the Earthshot Prize, and EAT. She has been appointed as Ambassador of the EDEN Project and National Geographic Explorer.
Hindou’s work with Indigenous Peoples’ communities at the local and global level has achieved broad recognition. A grant has been recently named after her, The Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim Environmental Photography Grant. Furthermore, she has been recipient of the following grants: The Diane Von Furstenberg DVF, the Rolex enterprise award 2021; the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award; Riverdale Country School’s 2021 Jolli Humanitarian Award featuring a building named after her. The 2020 Refugee International’s Refugees International Holbrooke Award; the Danielle Mitterrand Prize. She was recognized by BBC in the list of Top 100 women leader, and by TIME’s Women Leaders in Climate Change. Recognized by African media Akoya Africa 100 women leader.
Her speech during One Forest Summit and her TED talk on Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge meets science to solve climate change has surpassed more than 1 million views.
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