Monday, 8th June 2026, 6:30 - 8:30pm
Social Impact Hub, Lindengasse 56, 1070 Vienna
Language: English
Registration via: mukalazi@vidc.org
Eine Veranstaltung vom Institut für Internationale Entwicklung der Universität Wien und dem Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation.
Hintergrund
The Ugandan government is currently working flat out with international oil companies such as Total Energies to construct over 400 oil wells and the world’s longest heated oil pipeline, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). Touted as a driver of economic development, this large-scale fossil fuel project has, however, already led to numerous unlawful land expropriations and the destruction of the livelihoods of many local residents, repression of critics, the destruction of sensitive ecosystems, and massive long-term social, economic and psychological consequences for local communities. At the same time, civil resistance against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline has been growing for years, ranging from the affected local communities to international activist networks.
Together with human rights activists, we would like to discuss the impact of European corporations’ business interests on people, the environment and the climate in Uganda; the strategies they have developed in the face of growing autocracy and shrinking civil spaces; the need for transnational solidarity; and the role Austria can play.
Podium
Janepher Baitwamasa
is a human rights defender and programme coordinator at the Navigators of Development Association (NAVODA) in Hoima.
Christopher Opio
is an activist and member of the transnational StopEACOP Coalition. He lives in the Kyakaboga resettlement camp in Hoima District, where he is active in the Oil Refinery Residents Association (ORRA) and the youth CBO NatureTalk Africa (NaTa).
Nicholas Omonuk
is a climate activist and founder of End Fossil Occupy Uganda. He is a member of various youth networks such as Agape Earth Coalition, Fridays for Future and United for Climate Justice.
Fatim Selina Diaby
is a freelance writer, poet and political educator. As a member of several collectives, Fatim organises and campaigns at the intersection of health, climate and racial justice.
Moderation: Iris Neuberg
is a performance poet who creates spaces for controversial yet constructive dialogue – particularly on (anti-Black) racism, intersectional feminism and social justice.