After long process of lobbying within the UN system : Our proposal to declare an International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists for 2026 has taken a huge step toward being a reality. Today at the FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG) meeting, the Mongolian Government took the lead and presented the proposal giving a short and clear justification and call for support. It was accepted orally by Myanmar, Sudan, Philippines, Mali, China, Peru, Turkey and Kenya, and in written form by the EU block, Australia and others. There were no objections and no questions, so approved ! Now the proposal will be officially passed on to the 165th session of the FAO Council (in December 2020) for adoption by the 42nd session of the FAO Conference (in June 2021). Then on to the United Nations General Assembly hopefully in October 2021 for an official designation.This was definitely a team effort, by this morning we were up to 153 supporting organizations worldwide!The IYRP International Support Group will be meeting soon to discuss strategies for next steps as we work to keep the momentum going through the rest of the U.N. process. We will continue to work to make sure that pastoralist communities are at the centre of the analysis, proposals and policies that this year declaration could produce. Towards a an International Year of Pastoralists and Rangelands for 2026!
FYI: An article on the IYRP campaign appeared today in thethirdpole.net: Pastoralists push for recognition at the UNA call for an International Year for Rangelands and Pastoralists is an effort to better recognise half of the world’s land and the people who have historically taken care of it – and would particularly benefit communities in South Asiahttps://www.thethirdpole.net/…/pastoralists-push-for…/