Advancing the Right to Say No

Resisting Green Extractivism, and Building Alternatives That Shape a Just Transition from Below in Southern Africa

Countries: South Africa, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Partners: Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC)

Allocated amount: DKK 1,997,475 

Project start: 01/07/2023 Project end: 01/07/2025

This intervention strives to increase the capacity and scale of the Right to Say No (R2SN) movement across Southern Africa, enabling its members and connected communities to leverage mobilisation, knowledge, and legislation towards overcoming extractivism as a model of development and building a truly just transition from below. In doing so, it will contribute to communities in Southern Africa reclaiming sovereignty over their own development path. The intervention aims to amplify and strengthen the R2SN movement in its capacity to mobilise and resist new and existing forms of extractivism, and broaden a strong solidarity network across the region. It also strives to equip the R2SN movement with the knowledge base necessary to advocate for sustainable peoples’ alternatives to extractivism. Finally, the intervention aims to strengthen the capacity of the R2SN movement to influence policy processes at national, regional and global levels. 

Development objective:

The project will contribute to enabling and empowering communities in Southern Africa to reclaim their sovereignty by means of exercising collective agency and power to determine their development path, overcome extractivism as a model of development, and build a truly just transition from below.

Immediate objectives:

The intervention builds on three immediate objectives: 

  1. The Right to Say No movement is amplified and strengthened in its capacity to mobilise and resist new and existing forms of extractivism, and broaden a strong solidarity network across Southern Africa
  2. The R2SN movement is equipped with a knowledge base to advocate for a just transition from below; one that develops sustainable peoples’ alternatives to extractivism by proposing a popular socio-economic project that puts people and the environment first
  3. Strengthen the capacity and impact of the R2SN movement to influence policy processes at national, regional and global levels

Target groups:

The primary target group includes key representatives from the regional network of CSOs and activists from across the regional R2SN movement. The secondary target group includes the wider regional network of CSOs, Members of the Southern Africa Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power Reference Group, all members and people from the regional R2SN movement, and the national parliament. 

This project is organized by Udvikling for hvem?-gruppen