The global pandemic has put in-person ELAW Fellowships on hold, but we are working “face-to-face” with new Fellows from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Guinea to help them build skills.

Joseph Ahimbisibwe is a scientist at Advocates for Natural Resources and Development (ANARDE) in Kampala, Uganda. As Program Officer for Nature Conservation, he works to protect communities and ecosystems from abuses tied to commercial agriculture, extractive industries, and forest and wetland destruction. He also educates communities about climate change.

Joseph holds a bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Geosciences and Production and is pursuing a master’s degree in Environment and Natural Resource Management at Makerere University.

Joseph is meeting online with ELAW’s science team to sharpen skills for critiquing environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs). He is also working with the team to organize community-based monitoring and learn about successful efforts around the world to challenge resource extraction and land-use change. ELAW has also arranged for meetings with Joseph and natural resource economist Ernie Niemi to discuss how communities assign economic value to threatened ecosystems.

Emmanuel Umpula is an attorney with African Resources Watch, based in Kinshasa, DRC. He is working to promote equal access to natural resources, including land, water, and minerals. He provides legal assistance and works to expand social justice for local communities, including the people of Kawama.

Emmanuel is eager to strengthen his English to better collaborate with colleagues around the world. This month, he began his ELAW Fellowship with an online English class through the University of Oregon’s American English Institute (AEI).

Mamadou Alpha Mariam Diallo is an attorney. He works for Les Mêmes Droits pour Tous (The Same Rights for All, MDT) based in Conakry, Guinea. ELAW is collaborating with MDT to strengthen community rights, including resettlement and compensation practices tied to resettlement. ELAW is also working with MDT to address negative impacts of mining operations in the Boke region through analysis of environmental and social impact studies conducted by mining companies.

Diallo began his ELAW Fellowship this month with English study at the University of Oregon’s American English Institute (AEI).

Many thanks to an anonymous donor for supporting Joseph’s ELAW Fellowship, and to The 11th Hour Project for supporting Emmanuel and Diallo’s Fellowships.

For more information about the ELAW Fellows Program, click here.

Maggie Keenan
Communications Director &
Fellows Program Coordinator