The Africa Francophone Hub was officially launched today as a new regional platform designed to strengthen protection, learning, and collective influence for women and young human rights defenders across 29 Francophone African countries. Created by the Network of Women Leaders for Development (RFLD) and supported through the BMZ–GIZ partnership, the Hub was presented as a practical response to the specific structural barriers faced by Francophone civil society—turning isolated challenges into a shared agenda connected to regional frameworks and advocacy spaces.
Opening the webinar, Mme Bella Zevounou (Présidente, WOLSI) set the tone with the official framing of the launch and the purpose of convening: “Today we don’t just present a platform—we celebrate a collective tool that will protect, train, and amplify defenders across Francophone Africa. Bravo, the Africa Francophone Hub is launched.” Her facilitation anchored the agenda from onboarding participants to guiding the platform appropriation session, reinforcing that the Hub is meant to be used directly by defenders and organizations.
During the Hub presentation, Emmanuelle Vlavonou (Advocacy & Gender Analyst) introduced the Hub’s architecture as a centralized ecosystem for capacity and protection, emphasizing its practical use for learners and defenders: “Bravo—this launch gives Francophone defenders a single place to learn, access tools, and act with confidence.” The Hub includes an educational Student Portal structured around two main tracks: MOOC certification across legal frameworks (Maputo Protocol, CEDAW, AU CEVAWG), advocacy & mobilization, governance, economic rights, peace & security (UNSCR 1325), climate justice, protection and risk assessment, and Afro-feminist leadership; plus an expert-led library of video courses spanning leadership, SRHR, land rights, economic security, resource mobilization, and organizational management.
Next, Gloria Agueh Dossi Sekonnou (Director, RFLD Africa) positioned the launch as strategic infrastructure for the Francophone ecosystem: “Bravo—this Hub is the missing infrastructure that connects our local realities to regional policy change.” She highlighted why a Francophone Hub is necessary now: it closes the “resource gap” created by language barriers and helps translate community-level struggles into regional agendas, including advocacy channels linked to the African Union and ACHPR processes.
From a human-rights protection lens, Prof. Rémy Ngoy Lumbu (ACHPR Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and Focal Point on Reprisals in Africa) underscored the Hub’s value for defenders facing growing threats: “Bravo—this Hub strengthens protection where it is most needed, and gives defenders credible regional pathways for action.” A core pillar of the Hub is its Observatory & Data Center, described as a first open-access, sex-disaggregated regional monitor tracking threats—especially digital surveillance, legal restrictions, and violence against women. The page’s Regional Monitor 2025 indicators underline the urgency (including high levels of unfavorable operating environments and frequent virtual attacks).
As part of the SEA‑T (GIZ) initiative, Dr. Delia Nicoué emphasized a partnership approach designed to deliver concrete, sustainable, and measurable results for changemakers across Africa. SEA‑T is positioned as a strategic partnership that combines a clear program logic, structural support, and—critically—explicit recognition of African expertise, ensuring that solutions are not imported “off the shelf,” but co-built with the organizations and defenders who understand local realities. In this framing, the Hub becomes regional infrastructure that connects protection, training, and collective action in response to shrinking civic space and emerging threats—especially digital threats—that disproportionately target defenders, particularly women. She also highlighted the added value of a system that makes efforts visible and trackable over time: under the SEA‑T logic, support to the Hub is not a one-off intervention, but a long-term partnership vision intended to strengthen capacities, improve coordination among actors, and sustain social impact beyond a single event or short funding cycle. Finally, she underlined that the goal is to back a framework in which Francophone organizations can access the resources, tools, and networks needed to act at regional scale and bring their priorities into policy spaces.
On measurable change and partnership, Laurence Ahissou (Director, SID) framed the launch as a results-oriented regional investment: “Bravo—this Hub makes impact measurable and strengthens coordination,” and “Bravo—this platform embodies the kind of structured regional approach that effective partnerships are built for.” Together, their contributions reinforced the Hub’s integrated model—The Connector (linking isolated activists to networks), The Shield (rapid legal aid digital security), and The Amplifier (turning local struggles into regional policy)—and pointed audiences to engage directly via the Hub.
Explore:
rflgd.org/hub-francophone/