Halidou Ouedraogo is building the first popularly based human rights movement in Africa, guided by the principle that individual citizens can make a difference in Africa.

Ouedraogo started by founding the Burkinab Movement for Human and People's Rights in his home country of Burkina Faso. Today, 50,000 dues-paying members in 30 chapters across Burkina Faso are helping to defend the civil and human rights of their fellow citizens. The movement has sparked similar organizations across Africa.

To accelerate the spread of this work, Ouedraogo cofounded an umbrella body for emerging human rights organizations called the Inter-African Union for Human Rights (IUHR) that promotes pan-African human rights activities. Today the IUHR links 50 human rights organizations in almost as many African countries, and its efforts are paying off.

The first session of the African Court on Human and People's Rights was convened in July so that "ordinary people can take the country to court in cases of serious human rights violations." The African Court has leapt ahead of similar judicial bodies in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere by allowing citizen-sector organizations to file advisory opinions. Legal actions also can be filed on the basis of any international human rights or other treaties recognized by the country in question.