By Djinodji SOLMENGAR Rodrigue
Chadian Indigenous activist Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim has called for greater recognition of the links between human rights, climate change and environmental protection, saying communities living closest to nature are among those most affected by environmental crises.
“We cannot talk about human rights without talking about the environment,” Ibrahim said in an interview with MRTV English.
Ibrahim, who identifies as an Indigenous woman from the Bororo Fulani community, said her people live across several African countries, including Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, the Central African Republic and Sudan. She said she grew up between her nomadic and semi-nomadic community and the city.
Climate change and pastoralist communities
Hindou said climate change is having a direct impact on the lives of Indigenous communities, particularly those whose livelihoods depend on natural resources.
In Chad, she pointed to changing rainfall patterns, drought and flooding as challenges affecting access to water and pasture.
Her community relies largely on pastoralism. Livestock need both water and grazing land, she explained. When rainfall becomes irregular, or when droughts and floods affect grass and water resources, pastoralists are forced to move in search of better conditions.
She also linked these movements to tensions between communities over access to land and natural resources.
Using Indigenous knowledge to protect land
Hindou said her work includes helping communities document and manage their land and natural resources.
Through the Indigenous Women and Peoples Association of Chad, which she said she founded when she was 12 years old, she has worked on community-based initiatives at both national and international levels.
One approach she highlighted is participatory mapping. Using satellite images together with traditional knowledge, communities identify agricultural areas, livestock movement corridors and places that need restoration.
She said the approach can also help strengthen land rights and support women involved in agroecological activities. According to Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, some women’s groups have also gained access to markets through these initiatives.
A voice for Indigenous communities
Hindou said her advocacy extends beyond the Bororo community to Indigenous peoples in other parts of Africa and around the world.
She described Indigenous peoples as communities with an important role in protecting biodiversity and stressed the value of their knowledge in responding to environmental challenges.
Her own experience, she said, shaped her commitment to defending Indigenous rights. Growing up, she experienced marginalisation and discrimination and later wrote about Indigenous identity, culture and values.
From Chad to the international stage
Hindou’s work has received international recognition. During the interview, she was described as having been recognised by National Geographic, BBC and TIME, as well as receiving an OBE from the United Kingdom.
But Hindou said she does not see these honours as personal achievements alone.
She said she considers them recognition for the communities she represents, particularly women working at the grassroots level.
She also said she hopes her journey can encourage young people to believe they can make a difference.
“I really wish that all the generation that are coming and all the viewers, just to be confident, you can make it,” she said.
“Generosity”
Asked to describe the Bororo community in one word, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim chose “generosity”.
She recalled growing up between the city and her community, where she helped her grandmother with activities including milking cows and selling milk to support her education.
For Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, sharing with others and caring for the wider community are central values of her culture.
Her message is closely tied to the experience of communities whose livelihoods depend directly on the environment: protecting nature, she argues, also means protecting people, their rights and their future.
