Volume Seven: Refugees, Peacebuilding, Security

To African refugees, past and present.

To future children of Africa and the world, whom we never want to experience the horrors of a life seeking refuge and the denial of universal human rights.

– This volume is for you.

If you google ‘African refugees’, you will not find leaders or changemakers in anything the search produces. Instead, you will get stories about the reality of the hardships and traumas facing millions of African refugees; the plight of those seeking asylum only to face cross-border and international systemic challenges; and the hardships of poverty, exclusions, and oppressions faced even by those who are successful in making it into a place of refuge.

But what about all of those leading change, for refugees and by refugees …

Do we know their stories? What can we learn from their leadership, agency, and advocacy? How are they leading in Africa, and for Africans/peoples of African descent on the continent and/or in the diaspora? How are these everyday African leaders promoting peacebuilding and security?

This volume in the We Will Lead Africa series explores these questions by platforming the stories of everyday leaders who are working and advocating for African refugees and a more peaceful and secure world for Africans and people of African descent on the continent and in the diaspora.

This volume features the voices of refugees and former refugees across 25 personal narratives, a fiction story, 3 essays by the editorial team and the cover art and artwork in this collection. It is a testament to the remarkable things that happen when people refuse to succumb to dehumanisation and choose service and leadership instead.

We offer this volume and its accompanying manifesto as a mighty drop in the broader ocean of efforts being made to build a more peaceful, secure, and just Africa. We hope they inspire you to keep taking action towards a world of dignity, peace, and security for all.

Thank you to each of the contributors who make up this collective story of leadership for Africa and Africans, by African refugees:

Story Contributors:

Additional Contributors:

About the editorial team

Yabome, Njamba and Adelana are the lead editors of Refugees, Peacebuilding, Security.

Yabome Gilpin-Jackson, PhD is a multi-award-winning leadership and organisation development consultant, academic, writer, and curator of African identity and leadership stories. She has presented on and taught about ‘African Leadership: Now and for the Future.’ Yabome speaks on the issue of global African identities, which led to her writing and publishing short story collections entitled Identities, Ancestries, and Destinies. She regularly lectures and has peer-reviewed publications in her areas of interest. Yabome is a founder and lead editor of the We Will Lead Africa series. She is a former Sierra Leonean refugee. She is married to Adelana.

Njamba Koffi is an award-winning community leader, poet, author, public speaker, and amateur musician, who channels his lived experiences as a refugee into transformative work that spans continents. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Koffi’s path has carved a mosaic of achievement against the backdrop of displacement. His journey defies the limitations imposed by circumstance and celebrates the power of perseverance. His memoir Refuge-e: The Journey Much Desired serves as both a chronicle of survival and a testament to hope.

Adelana Gilpin-Jackson has over 25 years’ experience in civil / structural engineering, sustainable energy, technology, research, innovation, infrastructure asset management, and strategic risk management. After launching his career in engineering consulting, the Sierra Leonean civil war propelled him into an unexpected direction—wartime engineering for peacekeeping operations. In Canada, he led in the electric utility corporation in British Columbia and is a consulting engineer. He remains engaged in ideating and working for true self-determination and the socio-economic progress of Africa and Africans. He is married to Yabome.