Quotes

"You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain degree of madness...
The courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future."

- Thomas Sankara, president Burkina Faso 1985

The Great Green Wall promises to be a real game-changer, providing a brighter future for rural youth in Africa and a chance to revitalise whole communities. It can unite young people around a common, epic ambition: to ‘Grow a 21st Century World Wonder’, across borders and across Africa.

- Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD

"With its capacity to unite nations and communities in solidarity, the Great Green Wall represents the best kind of international cooperation that will be required in this century."

- President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins

“The Great Green Wall is about development; it’s about sustainable, climate-smart development, at all levels. Each of the 30 countries developed national action plans, That is the biggest achievement, because now they own it. It’s about ownership, and that has been the failure of development aid, because people were never identified with it. But this time they identify. This is our thing.”

- Elvis Paul Tangam  
African Union Commissioner for the Sahara and Sahel Great Green Wall Initiative.

“There are many world wonders, but the Great Green Wall will be unique and everyone can be a part of its history. Together, we can change the future of African communities in the Sahel.”

- Dr Dlamini Zuma, chairperson of the African Union Commission