Ahmad Abdallah
Chair, Environmental Rights Africa (ERA)
Dr. Ahmad Abdallah is an Egyptian human rights defender; he co-founded the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) in 2013 and has served as the chairman of its board since then.
Under his leadership, ECRF has grown to be one of the largest human rights organization in the country. ECRF operates in 18 governorates in Egypt, providing legal assistance to victims of human rights violations, conducting advocacy campaigns on their behalf, equipping local human rights defenders with the necessary technical skills to build their capacity, and publishing reports on the human rights situation in the country.
In 2021, Dr. Abdallah launched the "Munakh" initiative to document violations against the right to a healthy environment and provide critical legal assistance to victims of environmental injustice. Elevating his advocacy to the continental stage, he was elected in 2025 as the Chair of the Environmental Rights Africa (ERA) initiative, a Pan-African coalition of over 55 civil society organizations spanning all five sub-regions of Africa. In this capacity, he spearheads regional momentum toward a pan-African environmental rights treaty designed to institutionalize the enforcement of access to information, public participation, and environmental justice. Under his leadership, the coalition works to establish robust safeguards for frontline defenders and vulnerable communities, shielding them from the harmful impacts of irresponsible corporate and development projects.
Dr. Abdallah received the Index on Censorship Award in the campaigning section in 2018 and the Norwegian Rafto Human Rights Award in 2020 on behalf of ECRF. Dr. Abdallah holds a Master of Public Policy from the Blavatnik School of Government - University of Oxford and a PhD in Engineering from Egypt.