During the World Pastoralist Assembly, our Mongolian fellow herders shared the struggles they are facing in their territories.
Across Mongolia, mining and extractive projects are taking over pastoralist lands, disrupting traditional livelihoods, restricting mobility and pushing communities away from their ancestral lands. Despite organising and demanding to be heard, their voices are too often ignored or effectively suppressed.
We saw this during the governmental conference Global Pastoralist Gathering, where herders who expressed critical views were banned from entering the room and taking part in the conversation.
The right to free expression is fundamental. That is why we build a movement based on continuous international solidarity and on preserving critical autonomy when spaces of representation (or rather, presentation) of pastoralists are jeopardised by the interests of non-pastoralist entities, whether nation states, supranational institutions, NGOs, or alliances working in agreement with these powerful actors.
Hence the vital importance of a safe, pastoralist-led and pastoralist-driven gathering, such as the WPA, which gave us a space to listen, learn, and strengthen our collective response.
We stand in solidarity with Mongolian herders and pastoralist communities everywhere defending their rights. Our struggles are connected, and so is our collective strength.