Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is an environmental activist and member of Chad’s pastoralist Mbororo community. She began advocating for Indigenous rights and environmental protection at age 16, founding the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT) to introduce new income revenue activities for women and collaborative tools such as 3D participatory mapping to build sustainable ecosystems management and reduction of nature-based resource conflicts. Her vision is to grow support for both traditional knowledge and science to improve resilience to climate change especially for rural communities.

She is a member of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC) and serves as co-chair of the Facilitative Working Group of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform of the UNFCCC. She is dedicated to the protection of all Indigenous peoples and the value of their knowledge in the fight against climate change. 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.

Ibrahim’s work with indigenous communities at the local and global level has achieved broad recognition and support including, the 2021 Rolex Award for Enterprise; the 2020 Refugee International’s Holbrooke Award; the 2019 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award and the Daniel Mitterrand Prize. She is also a UN Sustainable Development Goal Advocate; Conservation International Board Member and Lui-Walton Senior Fellow; and Member of the Earthshot Prize Council and National Geographic Explorer. She also serves as the Vice Chair of the Global Forest Coalition and as an Advisory Board Member of the Planetary Health Alliance. She is frequently quoted in leading news coverage and was recognized by BBC as a top 100 women leader and by TIME’s Women Leaders in Climate Change and recognized as one of thirteen women Climate Warriors in Vogue Magazine. Her TED talk on Indigenous knowledge meets science to solve climate change has surpassed more than 1 million views.