ROME
Rokiatu Traoré of Mali won the 2026 United Nations SDG Action Changemaker Award for her work restoring degraded land while creating economic opportunities for women, young people and smallholder farmers in rural communities.
Traoré, founder of Herou Alliance, was announced as the winner Oct. 29 during the Heroes of Tomorrow: UN SDG Action Awards ceremony in Rome, which honored changemakers advancing the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.
Key Facts
- Nine finalists were selected from 7,115 entries from 190 countries and territories.
- Awards were presented in resilience, creativity and changemaker categories.
- Women’s Justice Initiative won the Resilience Award.
- Mothers of Courage won the Creativity Award.
- The ceremony took place Oct. 29 in Rome.
Herou Alliance works across the agroforestry value chain, producing seedlings, training farmers and planting trees in areas where increasingly dry conditions and degraded soils have threatened harvests and livelihoods.
Traoré said the initiative has planted 150,000 moringa and baobab trees and trained more than 2,000 smallholder farmers.
“Restoring land is restoring opportunities,” Traoré said in a video introducing her work.
Accepting the award, Traoré dedicated the recognition to her late husband, her parents, her team and farmers, women and young people across the Sahel.
“Our ambition is bold and it’s big,” she said, adding that Herou Alliance aims to plant 10 million trees and empower 15,000 smallholder farmers.
She called on others to help expand the work and “create a future full of opportunities for communities, for today and for the future generations.”
Traoré was one of three finalists for the Changemaker Award, alongside Ola Alakbaroui of Yemen, whose work connects peacebuilding with public services and community mediation, and Taban Shoresh, founder of The Lotus Flower, which supports women and girls affected by conflict and displacement in Iraq.
The Changemaker Award recognizes individuals who demonstrate visionary leadership and the ability to create measurable, lasting impact in their communities and beyond.
The Women’s Justice Initiative of Guatemala won the Resilience Award for its work supporting Maya women and girls and helping communities address violence and inequality.
Mothers of Courage, a women-led campaign in rural India, won the Creativity Award. The initiative brings mothers and families together to challenge social norms, prevent early marriage and support girls’ education. Organizers said more than 1.3 million people have participated in community gatherings connected to the campaign.
The ceremony also gave an honorable mention to the U.N. Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and Girls, recognizing its three decades of support for women’s rights and civil society organizations working to prevent violence and assist survivors.
Marina Ponti, director of the U.N. SDG Action Campaign, urged finalists and viewers not to underestimate the ability of individuals and communities to create change.
“When someone tells you that a more just and peaceful world is impossible, do not believe them,” Ponti said. “When they tell you that one person cannot make a difference, prove them wrong.”
The Heroes of Tomorrow: UN SDG Action Awards program is powered by the U.N. SDG Action Campaign, a special initiative of the U.N. Secretary-General hosted by the U.N. Development Programme.
