What We Do

African Peoples Advocacy (APA) exists to provide a platform for the engagement and education of African communities and key stakeholders in the UK, Africa, and elsewhere.

To fulfil this objective, APA operates as an independent think tank carrying out research, undertaking activities, organising debates and hosting events on topics that are of relevance to African communities and key stakeholders. These topics include, but are not restricted to, African development, social justice, race and gender equality, and education.

APA undertakes, or plans to undertake research, publications, public campaigns, and debates on the following topics:

Engagement and education of African communities in the UK, the Diaspora and Africa;
Race and gender equality in the UK and Africa;
African development;
Human rights, social justice, and democracy;
African culture;
And any other topics of interest to African communities.

Amongst the specific programmes and projects undertaken by APA are:

LEADING LIONS DOCUMENTARY

African Peoples Advocacy (APA), is currently producing a documentary called Leading Lions. The project revolves around 4-5 prominent members of the African Diaspora with innovative ideas on the positive transformation of African communities and Africa in the 21st century.

The documentary follows these ‘leading lions’ as they seek to implement their ideas in the UK, Africa, and elsewhere.

Read more

PITCHING AFRICA PROJECT

Between 2011 and 2012, African Peoples Advocacy(APA) produced a documentary called Pitching Africa, which follows APA as it gave a platform to Africans and African Diaspora members with outstanding ideas on the development of Africa and African communities. The project was undertaken in collaboration with Big Heart Media and the journalist and director of Colourful Radio Henry Bonsu.

As part of the Pitching Africa Documentary project, we carried out the following activities:

Launch of the documentary on 30th November 2011 at SOAS, event organised in collaboration with the Association for African Owned Enterprises and the Centre of African Studies.
Business Opportunities in Africa Briefing, organised on 27th February 2012, with H.E. Mr Abhimanu Kundasamy, High Commissioner of Mauritius to the UK, H.E. Carlos dos Santos, High Commissioner of Mozambique to the UK, Ms Sylvie Aboa-Bradwell, director of APA, and Mr David Smith, Chairman of the British African Business Alliance, as speakers.

AFRICAN PEOPLES ADVOCACY POLICY BRIEF

To maximise our capacity to engage and educate African communities and key stakeholders on topics that are of relevance to African peoples and the African continent, we launched the publication of the African Peoples Advocacy Policy Brief in January 2011.

The first issue, which highlighted Somaliland’s achievement of democracy and peace, and the need for its recognition, was included in a book celebrating the 20th anniversary of Somaliland’s declaration of independence. This book was launched on 18th May 2011 at the influential think tank Chatham House, during a meeting chaired by Lord Eric Avebury.

The second issue of our policy brief, which contained a series of recommendations for a new Western policy towards Africa, was the basis of the Africa Day briefing that the APA Director delivered at the UK Parliament on 23rd May 2011.

AFRO-BEAT ISOLATION PROJECT

In 2009 and 2010, we implemented a project called Afro-Beat Isolation, in order to enable African and other interested people to overcome isolation by attending sessions of African culture. We were congratulated in April 2010 by the then UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, for promoting community cohesion in Kent through this project.

Afro Beat Isolation Project

ELIMINATING DISCRIMINATION ON THE GROUNDS OF RACE

The first project undertaken under this aim was the No to DNA Database Discrimination campaign, launched in August 2009, to demand the removal of all innocent people from the national database. The second was the Campaign to End the Immigration Detention of Children in the UK. We launched this project in October 2009, following the case of the 10-year-old Nigerian girl Adeoti Ogunsola, who was in immigration detention against medical advice, and became so distressed that she attempted suicide.

We secured the support of prominent policy and decision-makers including Lord Nigel Jones of Cheltenham, Keith Vaz MP, Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, and Rehman Chishti MP, who kindly brought our campaigns to the attention of the Home Secretary, Theresa May MP, and the Minister for Immigration, Damian Green MP.

End Detention of Children and No to DNA Discrimination