The laureates
Description
Estelle Ewoule Lobe is a Cameroonian human rights advocate and co-founder of Action for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons and Environmental Migrants in Africa. The award recipient is active in Cameroonian civil society and advocates for the protection of the human rights of vulnerable people, environmental conservation, and the fight against climate change. Her activism also aims to combat environmental crimes such as illegal logging and the trafficking of protected species, and to prevent irregular migration by raising awareness among young people about the risks and facilitating their integration at the national level.
“Thank you for this program, which was incredibly enriching for me. (…) There was such a wealth of cultural experiences that allowed me to open myself up to other cultures.”
Estelle Ewoule Lobe interview - 02/07/2023
Can you introduce yourself ?
My name is Estelle Ewoule Lobe, and I am a Cameroonian citizen. I am the co-founder and executive secretary of the organization Action for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons and Environmental Migrants in Africa, better known by its acronym APADIME. I work primarily on environmental crimes in the Congo Basin, helping to strengthen the resilience of local forest communities by supporting their procedural and substantive rights. I am currently part of a very strong network in Central Africa established by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime through its Resilience Fund. This fund aims to finance and equip civil society actors working on the ground to achieve positive results in reducing and reporting illicit crimes.
What do you expect from the Marianne Initiative in terms of strengthening your project?
In fact, what I was primarily hoping to gain from the Marianne Initiative when I applied was to build my capacity in the field of cybercrime and to expand my professional network. I thought it was an initiative that would open up new horizons for me and allow me to interact with various international stakeholders.I would like to draw on the expertise of these stakeholders, as well as that of certain key stakeholders in the Marianne initiative, particularly its network of lawyers and its network at Sciences Po.
Which activities have been most helpful to you since the program began?
In fact, all of Sciences Po’s activities—including training on how French associations are formed and operate—are helping me expand my knowledge.
What future activities do you think will be most beneficial to you?
I’d like to be able to start another nonprofit here in France that will focus on some of the same areas as the work I’m already doing in Africa, but with a particular emphasis on migration. This is an issue the nonprofit focuses on extensively in Cameroon. There is a network of other civil society organizations, so through the association that will be established here in France, I plan to address this issue by raising funds to combat migration in the areas of origin in Central Africa.
Would you like to add anything else ?
I just want to say that this has been a truly wonderful experience for me, thanks to the Marianne Initiative. I hope that this initiative will also enable many others after me to benefit from the expertise and experience it provides, and that, through the Marianne Initiative, we can build a vast network of human rights defenders around the world.
