Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate has been named the African Union Commission Chairperson’s Special Envoy for Youth, bringing a prominent voice for climate justice into continental youth representation.

According to a report by Pulse Uganda, AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf appointed Nakate to the position. Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Adonia Ayebare, also publicly welcomed the appointment.

Nakate follows our very own Chido Cleopatra Mpemba, who was appointed in November 2021 by then Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat. Mpemba was the AU’s second youth envoy, following Tunisia’s Aya Chebbi, the inaugural holder of the position appointed in 2018. The office gives young Africans a channel to influence continental decisions and advance the aspirations of the African Youth Charter and Agenda 2063.

Nakate’s journey into public life began on the streets of Kampala in January 2019. Inspired by Greta Thunberg’s climate strikes, she protested alongside her siblings and cousins and continued demonstrating weekly. Those early protests grew into a wider campaign demanding that African experiences receive greater attention in the global response to climate change.

She founded the Rise Up Movement to give African climate activists a stronger platform. Her work has also included a project installing solar panels in rural Ugandan schools, connecting international advocacy with practical action at home. She has addressed leaders at major climate conferences, including COP25 and COP26.

In 2020, Nakate attracted international attention after being cropped out of a news photograph featuring Thunberg and other white climate activists. Her response captured the frustration of campaigners whose communities were affected by climate change but whose voices struggled to receive equal attention.

UNICEF appointed her a Goodwill Ambassador in September 2022. Shortly before that appointment, she visited Kenya’s Turkana County, meeting families facing drought, food insecurity and severe child malnutrition. These encounters reinforced her advocacy for children and communities often excluded from decisions affecting their lives. She is also the author of *A Bigger Picture*, a book arguing for more inclusive climate action.

Her move into the AU youth role carries significance beyond environmental campaigning. The office’s broader purpose includes promoting youth participation, engagement and leadership across the continent. Nakate’s experience offers a starting point for connecting those ambitions with the concerns young people bring from their own communities.

For an activist who has spent years asking decision-makers to listen, the appointment presents a demanding opportunity: helping ensure that other young Africans are heard, too.