Meet Sarah Adongo: “The soil remembers those who cry and defend it”

What does it mean to you to receive an award named after Irene Dankelman?

Receiving the Irene Dankelman Young Ecofeminist Award is both a profound honour and a responsibility. For me, it is a recognition of the women and communities whose struggles have shaped my work, often far from the national and international platforms where environmental decisions are made. It is also a reminder that gender equality, environmental protection and social justice cannot be pursued in isolation.

How are you contributing to gender and climate justice as an ecofeminist?

As a Ugandan lawyer working with Witness Radio Uganda, I have come to understand that land is much more than a physical resource. It is a source of food, livelihood, security, dignity and identity. Women are often closely involved in activities that depend on nature and may rely on land for their livelihoods, yet they remain excluded from decisions about land and the environment that determine their futures. This is where my work and my understanding of ecofeminism meet.

As a pioneer of the Legal Aid Clinic at Witness Radio Uganda, I have supported communities through advocacy, legal representation and documentation of human rights violations. I have supported women and communities affected by land dispossession and large-scale investments in Buvuma, Kiryandongo and Mubende. In this work, I have witnessed how land loss can intersect with gender-based violence, insecure livelihoods, and exclusion from compensation and decision-making because of underlying power inequalities. These experiences have strengthened my conviction that environmental justice cannot be achieved while women’s rights, voices and agency remain overlooked.

My work therefore goes beyond helping women navigate legal systems. It is about equipping them with the knowledge and confidence to defend their rights, tell their own stories, engage authorities and speak for their communities. I want women to be recognised not simply as victims of environmental harm, but as leaders capable of shaping sustainable solutions. For me, ecofeminism is not merely a theory; it is a daily commitment to challenging the unequal power structures that determine who controls land, who benefits from development and who bears its costs.

Alongside my community-based work, I have engaged in policy and advocacy processes aimed at strengthening women’s land rights and making environmental and business-related decisions more gender-responsive. Together with national civil society organisations, I participated in work on the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, advocating for stronger gender responsiveness in the priority area of land and environment and for reform of the Land Acquisition Act. I also participated in the review of the National Land Policy, where I advocated for reforms that secure women’s customary rights.

During Land Awareness Weeks, I have worked jointly with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development on customary land rights registration to help secure women’s land rights. I have also contributed to advocacy around the IFC Sustainability Framework, including calls for more responsible environmental standards in business activities, stronger access-to-information policies and protection for communities holding land under collective customary tenure.

Across this work, my focus remains on ensuring that women and affected communities are not merely consulted, but have meaningful influence over decisions and remedies. Women must be at the centre of decisions about land, biodiversity and natural resources because of their roles in sustaining livelihoods and their knowledge of the environments on which communities depend. These processes must also be gender-responsive and inclusive of all genders if the solutions are to be fair and sustainable.

What are you focusing on now?

My focus right now is ensure that Rural women who often bear the greatest costs of land-based investments and environmental degradation while remaining excluded from decisions and benefits arising from the land and natural resources on which their livelihoods depend should have safe, inclusive spaces where rural women can share experiences, speak freely about land injustice and gender-based violence, and collectively develop solutions that reflect their needs and priorities that can be included in national and international policies.

I intend to achieve this through community dialogues, legal empowerment and advocacy for equitable benefit-sharing, women will be supported to demand fair compensation, meaningful participation, access to project benefits and protection of their land and resource rights and the desired impact is a shift from women being passive recipients of development to becoming recognized rights-holders and decision-makers who shape how resources are managed, benefits are distributed, and biodiversity and community livelihoods are protected.

Beyond the award ceremony, what are you plans for attending the CBD COP in Armenia?

Beyond the award ceremony, I see my participation at CBD COP17 in Armenia as an opportunity to connect the realities of the communities I work with to global conversations about biodiversity. I hope to exchange experiences with fellow ecofeminists, women’s rights advocates and civil society organizations, build partnerships, potential partnerships, and learn how global biodiversity commitments can translate into meaningful and effective gender responsive and protection for women and communities at the grass root levels.

I also want to share the lessons from my work in Uganda: biodiversity protection and conservation are more just and sustainable when they respect land rights, recognise women’s knowledge and leadership, and ensure that affected communities can participate meaningfully in decisions. I hope the relationships and ideas developed at COP17 will strengthen the work we continue long after the conference.

What is your message to young ecofeminist leaders?

To young ecofeminist leaders, my message is: do not underestimate the power of the work you do where you are. Change can begin with listening to one woman, helping a community understand its rights, documenting an injustice that others have ignored, or creating spaces where women can share solutions that respond to their experiences of the environment and the conservation of nature. We do not have to begin on an international stage to make a difference; real impact is built at the grassroots. We must remain courageous, build solidarity and ensure that the communities we serve remain at the centre of our work and priorities.

For me, this award is not a destination; it is an invitation to do more. Ecofeminism means ensuring that women do not merely survive environmental and social injustice, but have the power to shape a more just future. That is the responsibility I carry with this recognition, and the work I intend to continue long after the award ceremony.

About the award: The Irene Dankelman Young Ecofeminist Award honours young ecofeminists and environmental and human rights defenders whose courageous, rights-based work shows that gender and social justice are prerequisites for effective biodiversity protection. It is named after Irene Dankelman, one of the founders of Both ENDS and a pioneer of women, environment and development work since the 1970s. The award is granted by WECF International, the Women's Environment & Development Organization (WEDO), IUCN NL and Both ENDS. The 2026 awardees are Sarah Adongo (Uganda), Yemi Knight (Barbados) and Monitte Lantas (Philippines).