Hello, I'm Sitha
A scholar-practitioner at the nexus of climate, law and community
I work at the point where climate science, law and policy meet the lives of the people who carry the cost of the crisis — children, women, and communities whose exposure is highest and whose say is smallest.
- Years
- 0+
- Countries
- 0
- Development Studies
- PhD
My story
How I got here
I'm a Zimbabwean scholar-practitioner. For over a decade I have worked across Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, South Africa, Kenya and Eswatini — beginning in humanitarian response and food security in the field, and moving through gender and livelihoods programming into regional climate and environmental rights coordination.
Today I lead environmental rights and climate programming for Terre des Hommes Germany's Africa Office, and serve as the regional focal point for human and environmental rights defence. It means designing cross-border initiatives, administering partnership grants of more than EUR 5.8 million, and representing the work in the rooms where climate policy is decided — the COPs, the Africa Climate Summit, and alongside the African Union's committee on children's rights.
Alongside that I chair the board of Ecoclimate Vision, lead the climate change branch of the Joining Forces Africa alliance, and have mentored young climate leaders through UNDP. I completed my PhD in Development Studies in 2025, and I am currently reading for an LLM in Environment and Energy Law at the University of Birmingham — because so much of what determines whether a community is protected comes down to what the law actually requires.
What ties it together is a conviction that climate policy is a distributive question before it is a technical one. I write, research and advise on that premise.
Most recent award
Africa's Top 100 Female Leaders
Women in Environment, Sustainability & Climate Justice
SOWA 2026 · 5 September 2026
What I believe
Five convictions the work runs on
Rights, not charity
Environmental rights are legal rights. Framing protection as an entitlement rather than a kindness changes what can be demanded, and of whom.
Evidence into action
Research that stays in a journal has not finished its job. I work on the translation — from finding, to policy instrument, to something a community can actually use.
Proximity
The people closest to the harm understand its failure modes best. Programmes designed without them fail in ways that are entirely predictable afterwards.
Children as parties
Children will live with these decisions longest and hold the least power over them. They need standing in the process, not a paragraph describing them.
African knowledge first
Indigenous and customary knowledge is governance infrastructure, not colour. Adaptation delivered through institutions people recognise is adaptation that lasts.
Journey
Two decades, field to policy
From environmental health training in Bulawayo to regional climate coordination and a law degree.
2005 – 2010
BSc Environmental Health
Solusi University, Bulawayo — where the public-health grounding began.
2014 – 2020
Field work in food security and WASH
Lean season assistance in Zimbabwe: supervising 32 field and operations staff, and establishing the water and sanitation department that linked water management to climate-smart agriculture.
2015 – 2017
MSc Development Studies
National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo.
2018 – 2019
Gender and sustainable livelihoods
Coordinating the Triple D Women Indaba for Women of Zimbabwe Arise — advocacy on gender-based violence, and training women in livelihoods and market access.
2021 – Present
Regional climate and environmental rights coordination
Terre des Hommes Germany, Africa Office — multi-country programming across five countries and partnership grants above EUR 5.8 million.
2020 – 2025
PhD, Development Studies
National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo.
2024 – Present
Board Chairperson, Ecoclimate Vision
Chairing the board of a Global South climate organisation.
2025 – 2027
LLM Environment and Energy Law
University of Birmingham — in progress.
September 2026
SOWA 2026 — Africa's Top 100 Female Leaders
Winner in the category Women in Environment, Sustainability & Climate Justice.
Today
Terre des Hommes (TDH) Germany — Africa Office
Designs and leads multi-country climate and environmental rights programming across Southern and Eastern Africa, and serves as the Africa office focal point for human and environmental rights defence.
- Coordinates multi-country, multi-project initiatives across Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, South Africa and Kenya, integrating child rights, livelihoods, water management, health, education and environmental sustainability into programme design and implementation.
- Leads strategic programme operations across climate and human rights initiatives, translating regional objectives into structured delivery through project management, workflow optimisation and compliance systems.
- Manages programme finance, grant administration and financial planning, including partnership grants worth more than EUR 5.8 million.
- Oversees remote and multi-country team coordination, supporting performance, accountability and cross-functional collaboration.
- Strengthens monitoring, evaluation and learning systems through process improvement and digital workflows.
- Serves as regional focal point for multi-jurisdictional compliance, ensuring technical documentation, donor reporting and operational strategy align with legal and regulatory standards.
- Established and maintains networks and alliances with AU and UN bodies, collaborates with INGOs, and leads the climate change branch of the Joining Forces Africa alliance.
- Represents the organisation in international and regional policy spaces, including the COPs, the Africa Climate Summit and other high-level forums.
Education
Academic training
2020 – 2025
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Development Studies
National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo
2025 – 2027
In progressMaster of Law (LLM), Environment and Energy Law
University of Birmingham
2015 – 2017
Master of Science (MSc), Development Studies
National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo
2005 – 2010
Bachelor of Science (BSc), Environmental Health
Solusi University, Bulawayo
Certification
Professional certificates
2025
Climate Change and Health
Yale University
2025
Gender and Environment e-Course
UNITAR
2023
ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems Awareness
Knights of Safety
2026
Diploma in ESG and Sustainability
Udemy
Competencies
- Climate governance and environmental rights
- Climate justice, adaptation, and loss and damage
- Children’s environmental rights and intergenerational justice
- Environmental law, policy analysis and rights-based advocacy
- Diplomatic coalition-building across diverse African contexts
- Adaptive strategy execution in resource-constrained settings
- Climate vulnerability, mobility and community resilience
- Multi-stakeholder governance across UN agencies, governments, donors and civil society
- Research, knowledge management and publication writing
- Monitoring, evaluation, learning and data-informed programming
- Training, facilitation and institutional capacity building
- Strategic planning, operations and cross-functional coordination
Let’s work together
Interested in a collaboration, a keynote or an advisory conversation?
Speaking, policy and technical advisory, board service, and co-authored research — all welcome.
