Environment and migration geopolitics specialist, François Gemenne is a qualified researcher of the FNRS and Director of the Hugo Observatory at the University of Liège (Belgium). Senior author for the IPCCSciences Po Paris and the Sorbonne. Moreover, he is the chairperson of Climate Voices – a climate education NGO, and co-leads, with Julia Tasse, the Climate and Defence Observatory of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, in France.
He is a political science PhD from Sciences Po Paris and the University of Liège, Belgium (double degree), holder of a Development, Environment and Societies Master degree from the University of Louvain, and a Master of Research in Political Science from the London School of Economics.

Professor Youba SOKONA, With more than 40 years of experience in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable development in Africa, Professor SOKONA led a number of national and continental initiatives. After having been Co-Chair of the IPCC Working Group III and Lead Author since 1990, he is currently Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Youba Sokona has a proven track record of organisational leadership and management, for example as Coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) and as Executive Secretary of the Sahara and the Sahel Observatory (OSS). He is affiliated with numerous boards and organizations, including as an honorary professor at the University College London, member of the World Academy of Science and the African Academy of Science, and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. In short, Youba Sokona is a global figure, with deep technical knowledge, extensive policy experience and an unreserved personal commitment to African led development.

Engineer in Rural Water and Forest Engineering, graduated from INAT – Tunisia and ENGREF – France, he started his professional career in 1992 with the General Directorate for Forests at the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources. After 17 years and in 2009, he joined GIZ as a national climate change expert under the UNFCCC implementation support project in Tunisia, until 2011, then as Senior Expert, Component Director for the same project until November 2013 before his recruitment by the United Nations World Food Program in Mauritania as international expert, coordinator of an AF-project for the benefit of the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, until July 2019 before he integrated the SwissContact foundation as operational project manager in the field of tourism governance. He joined the OSS in October 2021, as senior project manager, natural resources management and climate change expert within the Climate Department. During his 30 years of experience, he worked on natural resources management, climate change, project management and the development of climate change adaptation projects.

Dr Callist Tindimugaya is a Water Resources Specialist working with the Ministry of Water and Environment in Uganda. He is currently working as the Head of the Department for Water Resources Planning and Regulation with overall responsibility for ensuring sustainable and equitable utilization and protection of water resources. Dr Tindimugaya has been key in promoting climate change adaptation through the framework for catchment based integrated water resources management which is being implement through Catchment Management Plans.
He has represented Uganda for over 15 years in international and transboundary water resources programs and initiatives such as the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), Inter Government Authority on Development (IGAD), and UNESCO’s International Hydrological Program

Roukiattou Ouédraogo is a communicator with more than 15 years of experience in the world of development. Passionate with networking and dialogue for community constructive collaborations, she worked for various associations, before holding the position of communication and advocacy officer for one of the largest networks of Burkinabé civil society, the Permanent Secretariat of Non-Governmental Organizations (SPONG) from 2010 to 2020. She has led and participated in numerous actions and advocacy campaigns at national, regional and international level on various issues such as health, access to drinking water and sanitation, the environment, social protection, youth employment. She joined the non-profit “Speak Up Africa” organization team, based in Senegal 2021, as an Advocacy Manager and is currently National Coordinator in Burkina Faso. She is a member of the OSS Strategic Orientation Committee.