Angela I. Ebeleke Yoka, Gender and Climate Change focal point at the UNFCCC, for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development
Manchester, England
Stepping up as a co-facilitator at COP28 negotiations on gender
Angela, or Angèle as she is called in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is a National Gender and Climate Change Focal Point (NGCCFP) at the UNFCCC for the DRC and works as a course guide for the night school for new negotiators organized by the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). Initially, Angela was educated in the area of health (tracheostomy). Her journey related to climate change started at COP22 in 2016 in Marrakech, where she met the DRC Delegation, which led to her appointment as Gender and Climate Change focal point.
According to Angela, “when a patient or the earth is sick, one must take action” and that has become her ‘leitmotiv’. Angela was one of the 10 Fellows selected to join the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) Fellowship in 2023. As part of the Fellowship, she took part in a UNITAR-CVF organized one-week Climate Diplomacy Training in Accra, Ghana and the subsequent COP28 in Dubai, UAE where she was able to apply knowledge and skills from the training.
Angela gained more confidence and felt well-prepared to attend COP28 thanks to the training. While Angela has already attended seven previous COPs, COP28 was special for Angela because she was appointed co-facilitator and was co-responsible for the daily report on gender to the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), one of two permanent subsidiary bodies to the Convention established by the COP/CMP. This included daily meetings with the secretariat, constant consultation with the co-facilitator from Canada and reporting back to the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and SBSTA Chairs in the evening. Despite the very work-intense period and late evening shifts, the experience was rewarding for Angela and helped her overcome any lack of confidence that she felt previously due to her dyslexia. Her message to other people with dyslexia is encouraging: “You can make it!”
Angela’s confidence was also demonstrated by the fact that she felt more comfortable speaking in front of a large audience following the training and spoke as a panellist on The assessment of loss and damage in the case of the Kalehe natural disaster in South Kivu, DRC. Angela also felt comforted by the fact that she had mastered all the relevant acronyms, which were fresh on her mind thanks to the UNITAR-CVF training being organized shortly before COP28.
Another skill from the training and from her previous experience working in a hospital included being impartial. While at previous COPs, Angela had presented her country’s position, COP28 required her to report neutrally back to the secretariat, which was a new experience for her. At COP28, she also practiced a similar role to the trainer from the UNITAR-Aroha training in Ghana, which she found particularly rewarding.
Angela further used skills from the training’s session on Engaging with Media to conduct an interview with the Institut de la Francophonie pour le développement durable, part of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (OIF) at COP28. The sessions focusing on Ghana’s experience and the carbon market were particularly insightful for her.
Despite all her achievements, Angela remains very humble and has made it her mission to support other younger negotiators from DRC at COP28, and provided them with direction, recommendations and tried to encourage them when they were facing challenges with the English language.
“Empathy” is Angela’s favourite word and it perfectly illustrates her life’s mission of protecting the earth and supporting others, including women. An activist at heart, Angela also campaigns at a local level in her adopted home city of Manchester, United Kingdom, where she engages with the diaspora and with local communities. This includes lecturing fellow church members about all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on 17 consecutive Sundays, raising awareness about gardening and planting, and using music to advocate for the SDGs, amongst others.