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12 September
ආයුබෝවන් (Āyubōwan) and வணக்கம் (Wanakkam), comrades!
Today, the Forum stepped out of the halls and into the territories. From dawn, buses carried delegates across Kandy to 14 different sites, where communities welcomed us with food and stories of struggle and hope. On these visits, we came face to face with local resistance against land grabbing, the weight of microfinance debt, the violence of racial capitalism, and more, while also witnessing agroecological practices and people-led alternatives already taking root. By touching the ground, we deepened our connection to the land and to each other, grounding our vision of food sovereignty in the lived experiences of those who defend it every day, here in Sri Lanka. For today’s bulletin, we’ll let the pictures tell the story 🙂
To access photos of the forum and field trips, go to https://www.flickr.com/photos/nyeleniforum/
Closing Ceremony and Press Conference
🗓️ September 13th, 6:45pm (Press Conference at 7:15pm) – NICD, Kandy, Sri Lanka
🌍 Journalists can join on site or via Zoom (with EN/ES/SL interpretation): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82590500165
11 September
Download the bulletin in PDF here
ආයුබෝවන් (Āyubōwan) and வணக்கம் (Wanakkam), comrades!
Today was all about the pinning down of our convergence around the two key political documents of the Nyéléni forum – the Common Political Action Agenda (CPAA) and the Final Declaration. An advisory board has been listening in on the Forum’s sessions the past days to understand key messages coming out from discussions and how we can bring our movements and struggles closer together. A synthesis of the inputs from the Forum and Dialogues was sent to all constituencies today, along with a template form for feedback, which were debated and filled in during regional and global movements meetings in the afternoon. All this will to lead to the political agreements underlying the CPAA, to be finalized after the forum and validated by representatives of all global movements. A massive launch of CPAA is planned during Peoples’ Summit of the COP in Belém, Brazil.
OUR PATH FORWARD
In addition to the key political documents, the regional and global organisations meetings discussed seven proposals for convergence action for next year, which, if accepted, will be integrated into the CPAA
- A global day of mobilisation, with the main banner against imperialism, genocide, war, and the use of hunger as a weapon.
- Nyéléní Day, during which we will carry out convergence actions in the territories.
- A training school on intersectionality, feminism, care, and their relationship to food sovereignty.
- Dialogue sessions with the union movements on food sovereignty, just transition, technological sovereignty, and more.
- Assemblies of social movements and Indigenous Peoples at international events like COP30.
- Debates on grassroots multilateralism and the need for radical changes to UN institutions.
- Developing grassroots communication to disseminate our progress and vision.
COMING UP …
TOMORROW
SEPTEMBER 12TH – Field Visits
With the in-person Forum engagements wrapping up in the next two days, the field visits will bring us closer in our shared struggle for food sovereignty. Buses will leave the NICD Complex at 6:30 in the morning, taking us to meet comrades across 14 locations in Sri Lanka, who will give us insights on resistance to land grabbing, microfinance, racial capitalism , agroecological alternatives, and more.
SEPTEMBER 13TH – Forum Close
On Saturday, the Forum will wrap up with a presentation of the Final Declaration, closing ceremony and a press conference, open to journalists worldwide.
Closing Ceremony and Press Conference
September 13th, 6:45pm (Press Conference at 7:15pm) – NICD, Kandy, Sri Lanka
Journalists can join on site or via Zoom (with EN/ES/SL interpretation): nolog.link/s/v82NzS
REGIONAL AND GLOBAL ORGANIZATION MEETINGS
Regions and Global organizations gathered once again to discuss and contribute to the points of sections 3 and 4 of the CPAA based on yesterday’s analysis of the inputs from the Working groups. Also, they answered five questions about the Kandy Declaration draft!
FROM THE AIRWAVES
Conversation with poet, playwright and activist Kotiganahalli Ramaiah on poetry and the struggle against the caste system in India. Meghana, a young activist from Bangalore joins the conversation and interprets a song composed by Mr. Ramaiah. Jonathan Lubega, lawyer and policy analyst working with the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI), speaks to us about trade, the impact of FTAs in communities, seeds and food sovereignty. Claudio Schuften, of the People’s Health Movement speaks to us about the link between agroecology and people’s health. Members of the World Forum for Fisher People from Asia discussed the impacts and struggles around Industrial aquaculture and the victories against rising industrial forces.
ART FOR CONVERGENCE
Artists were called on stage to emphasize that they are political actors, and that art is not a byproduct of the Forum but a central, powerful political tool for conveying struggles and messages globally. Vicky Shahjehan of the Fearless Collective explained that the mural finalized today is the result of a methodology developed and practiced by the Collective. Starting with the emptiness of an empty plate, participants in a workshop starting off the mural discussed issues of food security, sovereignty, and justice, and reflected on what it feels like when rights are taken away. These reflections were then brought to life in the mural: a farmer fighting against sugarcane, a fisherwoman battling windmills, images that give visibility to a segment of society so often taken for granted: the farmers who produce the food we eat.
To access photos of the forum, go to https://www.flickr.com/photos/nyeleniforum/
10 September
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ආයුබෝවන් (Āyubōwan) and வணக்கம் (Wanakkam), comrades!
Last evening, following the Palestine solidarity action, frustrations were expressed about not being able to march. During a morning plenary session, members of the Global Steering Committee and the Care and Respect Working Group explained why it was not possible to hold the demonstration on the streets. The Sri Lankan government had suddenly withdrawn its support for the march after initially agreeing to it. The formal reason they stated was that foreign delegates with business visas would face legal consequences if they protested in the country, but we have been informed that external pressure was exerted to stop this action. All of this validates how powerful this moment is, and how threatened capital is by our presence in this space. Out of concern for the safety of the Sri Lankan steering committee, delegates and the local organisations that worked hard to make this Forum possible, the decision of the organisations coordinating the process was to comply with the request and avoid a shutdown or worse, of the Forum. Sri Lankan comrades marched on behalf of all participants, while delegates held a demonstration in the main auditorium, with chants for a free Palestine resonating widely. In moments like this, it is important to ground ourselves in the wisdom of our Indigenous elders. We wanted to share the teachings of communities in Bahia, Brazil that speaks to this moment: “What unites us is greater than what separates us. Peace among us, war on tyrants.”
ARTICULATING OUR COMMON ACTIONS
Four Working Groups discussed about multiple actions towards the implementation of the Common Political Action Agenda (CPAA). Filled with enganging discussions, participants got together to transform the system:
MOBILIZATION AND COLLECTIVE ACTION
Proposals revolved around building cross border alliances, recreating Nyéléni at territorial levels and engaging youth and consumers, creating funding alternatives and solidarity financing to channel resources directly to those most in need.
POPULAR COMMUNICATIONS
Grassroots communication is simple, inclusive, collective, horizontal, participatory, creative, democratic. Communication formations should be like that as well, and also a constant learning process. From community radios, zines and murals to free technologies and shared storytelling, we envisioned a living process that goes beyond likes, creating tools and exchanging across movements to carry forward our CPAA after the forum.
MOVEMENT BUILDING
Interventions reiterated that after the acceptance of the CPAA, a simple and accessible version of the document must be circulated in our localities and in other relevant movements and processes, such as the World Social Forum in Benin in 2026. It was also voiced that Nyéléni should issue explicit denouncements regarding the injustices our peoples are facing.
POLITICAL FORMATION
Traditional Indigenous knowledge is key and should be socialised. Theory has to come through practice. Training schools across Latin America and Africa on feminist agroecology are models to be replicated. Building communications and feminist political training for men was suggested.
“Movement implies moving.. as we pastoralist do. Important is the direction where we are going, but most important is that all the lambs that are in the back of the flock are staying together. Such is our challenge” —- Verdiana Morandi, representing WAMIP
DIALOGUES
Trade unions, scholars, philanthopy, and social movements engaged in dialogues to discuss possible alliances, topics of common interest, and how they can contribute to advancing the CPAA.
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
The dialogue convened social movements from major global initiatives such as the ICARRD+20, the Global Campaign for a Binding Treaty, the Peoples’ Summit towards COP30, the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples Mechanism of the CFS, and the World Social Forum. It aimed to highlight how these initiatives align with the Nyéléni common political agenda for action and to explore ways to connect struggles and strengthen the unity of our movements.
PHILANTROPHY
Delegates engaged in dialogue with invited allies on solidarity philanthropy and financial autonomy.
SCHOLARS
Scholars and researchers expressed a clear desire to collaborate and support the Nyéléni process beyond this forum, and to strengthen empowering and non extractive collaboration between movements and researchers based on needs.
TRADE UNIONS
Participants discussed how in the fight for, agroecology, worker’s rights too should be guaranteed along with the collective rights of small-scale food producers. Unions are an important ally for the movement as they are deeply embeded in many common struggles like the struggle against multilateral trade agreements, militarism, the rise of conservative agendas, and rural sucession as an important focus for youth.
GLOBAL ADVOCACY ACTIONS
The Nyéléni forum received various proposal for Global Advocacy campaigns, of which six are being considered:
La Via Campesina towards a new trade framework; WFFP: Global campaign against Aquaculture; PHM to counter the privatisation and commercialisation of health care systems; SID for transforming global debt architecture towards debt cancellation and justice; the North East and North Africa (NENA) region for a global campaign against starvation and the weaponisation of food; Europe’s TMP-E to confront hegemonic narratives about exclusion and amplifying migrant power
TOWARDS A NEW TRADE FRAMEWORK!
A New Global Trade Framework Based On Food Sovereignty Is Urgent And Necessary. Today, on the International Day of Action Against the WTO and Free Trade Agreements, we rise together against the tyranny of neoliberalism, against the false promises of free trade, against the weaponisation of food trade.
We are building a future where food feeds people, not profit. Where trade serves life, not capital. Where food sovereignty is not a demand, but a right. Read more at bit.ly/Nyélénitradeframework
ART FOR CONVERGENCE
In Chardonnoir’s vision, campesinos rise like giants, their hands and harvests both shield and sword. Free from Pests, Cultivate or Die echoes in the rhythm of their labor, while To Cultivate is to Struggle pulses in every furrowed field and defiant gesture. They defend the earth, nurture life, and reclaim sovereignty, transforming cultivation into an act of rebellion, resilience, and hope.
FROM THE AIRWAVES
Today on the airwaves: Anderson Amaro from Brasil’s MPA discussed food sovereignty and agrarian reform; Tinashae Njanji from PHM Sudafrica and Asha Kilaru from PHM India, spoke to us about the importance of the right to health within the struggle for food sovereignty. Verdiana Morandi, regional coordinator for WAMIP Europe, discussed the role of pastoralists in food sovereignty, the challenges they face and the links with the feminist movement; Lise Masson from Friends of the Earth International explained the links between energy sovereignty and food sovereignty.
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9 September
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ආයුබෝවන් (Āyubōwan) and வணக்கம் (Wanakkam), comrades!
Today marked solidarity with Palestine, naming clearly the genocide under siege and occupation, and denouncing governments’ and the UN’s failure. In the first half of the day delegates continued their conversation in plenary. Following two years of rounds of consultations with Nyeleni process participants, three plenary rounds of inputs were voiced to strengthen and update the Common Political Action Agenda. Nyéléni, as always, proved itself as a brave space to confront the roots of oppression – racial capitalism, patriarchy, white supremacy.
SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINE
“The political action we are taking in this forum connects to all the other actions taking place around the world, including the Freedom Flotilla, Friends of the Hague, and countless other alliances at local, regional, national, and international levels.”
— Jana Nakhal of the Global Steering Committee representing the NENA region.
Nyéléni is many things. It is a space of resistance, of care, of convergence. But above all, it is a space of solidarity. Palestine holds a special place in this convergence of struggles. Its genocide has become a brutal reference point for the normalisation of state violence, giving ruling classes and oppressive states everywhere a license to act with impunity. From Kashmir to Congo, from Haiti to Lebanon, Sudan to Afghanistan, the same patterns of violence are being replicated and exported. Its genocide is not an isolated atrocity but the sharpest edge of a global system of impunity. It is the template for capitalism, racism, patriarchy, xenophobia, ecological destruction, and war carried to their most extreme form.
Since the Forum began, Palestine has lived at the heart of every gathering in this space, both formal and informal. Each day, hundreds move through these halls draped in kūfiyyas. In every session, voices rise with chants, silences, and declarations for liberation. This afternoon was dedicated to our Palestinian comrades, some present with us, and others who we dream we will one day dance with in a free Palestine. The hall pulsed with chants for liberation thundering in dozens of languages, hundreds dancing and singing, carrying banners, art, and messages showing that in every struggle, Palestine is present. And in Palestine, every struggle finds its reflection.
It has been said that we are not freeing Palestine, but Palestine is freeing us. That spirit fills Nyéléni. From peasants to fisherfolk, from Indigenous Peoples and pastoralists to feminists, from workers to migrants, millions are represented here, and every one of them has spoken of Palestine as part of themselves. Nearly every movement here has said the same truth in their own way: we see ourselves in Palestine, and our liberation is bound to theirs. To stand with Palestine is to stand with every people resisting oppression, to declare that injustice anywhere will not go unchallenged, and to insist that another world, rooted in dignity, justice, and care, is not only possible, but being built here and now, together. From the river to the sea, we rise. Until every wall falls, every border is bridged, and every occupied territory is liberated, we will not rest. Free Palestine. Free Palestine. Free Palestine.
WORKING ON THE COMMON POLITICAL ACTION AGENDA (CPAA)
Discussions in the plenary were resumed to update the Common Political Action Agenda (CPAA), focusing on its core section: what we aim to achieve and how. In a first round of interventions, delegates reflected on actions already underway within the six axes of convergence: building people’s democracy, peace and internationalist solidarity; people’s economies, food sovereignty and agroecology; securing land, territories and agrarian reform; ensuring health for all; and achieving climate justice and energy sovereignty. Contributions highlighted advocacy efforts, workers’ struggles, and spaces for marginalized groups, while stressing the need for greater visibility of pastoralists and Indigenous Peoples within the process. A space for burning issues that were left off the agenda was organized. Many topics where brought to the attention of delegates, like the impact of digital biopiracy on farmers rights. In the afternoon session, lack of implementation of global tools achieved by the movements was emphasized. A delegate from Asia-Pacific made clear that we need to push for bringing at national level all the principles and policy tools we managed to get appproved in the international space. Guido Soto from the Latin American and Caribbean Agroecological Movement (MAELA, Spanish initials) addressed these priorities in a global proposal:
“Popular education, communication, organization, mobilization, and alliances. Review and halting of free trade agreements through campaigns and mass mobilizations. Political education from a gender and diversities perspectives. These convergence agreements must be widely disseminated and adopted, for which popular communication is essential. Expanding the agroecological and just energy transition through rural-urban and worker-peasant alliances. Mass reforestation campaigns to address the climate crisis, restoring ecosystems, biodiversity, and indigenous knowledge. It is food that comes from biodiversity, from community kitchens, which maintain the identity and the spirit of peoples”.
COME VISIT THE AGROECOLOGY FAIR!
40 small-scale food producers, artisans and artists from all Sri Lanka bring the agroecological trade fair to life and make it colourful. Sail this amazing market set up by local organizations every day from 9AM to 8PM until September 10th!
ART FOR CONVERGENCE
The mural is rapidly coming to life!
FROM THE AIRWAVES
Three episodes spoke about Palestine: one about the connection between Palestine and the Zapatistas (members of International Indian Treaty Council), on war and the challenges to popular struggles (Zeina Mohana, Amel-Lebanon), and trade union struggle´s need for International solidarity with Palestine (Iván Gonzáles from the Confederación Sindical de las Américas) Also, Ruby van der Wekken, from RIPESS, spoke about the commons and commoning and on what that means for the food sovereignty movement. Local journalists from Sri Lanka interviewed Prakash Raj, an iconic artist, actor and activist, who spoke about the importance of food beyond nourishment and the link between art and social struggle. African delegates, Elise Pierrette Memong (RAESS) and Mamadou Goita (IRPAD) spoke on how to build a new economic order.
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SEE ALL PICTURES IN OUR FLICKR ACCOUNT
8 September
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ආයුබෝවන් (Āyubōwan) and வணக்கம் (Wanakkam), comrades!
After two days of regional meetings and assemblies, today we officially kicked off the 3rd Nyeleni Global Forum, with interpretation in 17 languages facilitated by a team over 70 interpreters on site. Guided by our shared political commitments to food sovereignty and agroecology, we turn to our next common goal: systemic transformation now. Over the coming days, we will continue to discuss what this means and work together to enrich a Common Political Action Agenda, defining future calls and collaborations between Nyéléni adjoining movements, whilst affirming our commitment to learn, grow, unlearn, and challenge systemic inequalities linked to interconnected forms of oppression: colonialism, patriarchy, racism, and capitalism among others.
OPENING CEREMONY
To open the forum, Sri Lankan delegates staged a Mystica, taking the shape of a play in which a puppet devil symbolising the WB/IMF/WTO/debt was shattered whilst the Nyéléni Forum was reiterated as a space building up a shared political voice of all its adjoining delegates and their movements. Nearly 1000 people attended the event, along with two Sri Lankan Ministers Samantha Vidyaratna and Wasantha Smamarasinghe, who expressed that the government has been looking closer at the concept of food sovereignty, whilst tending to cooperaitve development and food security, and pledging its full support to the objectives of the forum. Miriam Nobre, from the WMW who was present at the first Nyeleni shared that important results following the first forum included confronting the narrative that processed food was the solution for addressing the workload of women. It was Instead realised that it was more important to make food and care a collective process and to resist different forms of neoliberal individualism. A round of applause for the extensive work and commitment of the Nyeleni steering commitee, the launch of a strong Nyeleni song, and the empowering words of local organizer Vimukthi de Silva ended and crowned the opening of Nyeleni III – Peoples power should be in the hands of the people!
“We affirm that popular agrarian reform is not an option but a necessity. Our lands are being turned into testing grounds for new colonial projects. Each of our fronts is a battlefield of struggle and they all converge towards one common goal; the libration of our people. Free Palestine, long live Palestine.”
—– Engineer Mohammad Manasrah, representing the NENA region
GLOBAL AND SRI LANKAN POLITICAL CONTEXT
Representatives from the 6 regions and global organizations spoke out in short speeches on the most important issues in relation to the Forum and its goals. Colonialism and its continuities were emphasized to be experienced in its various forms across all contexts. The interventions opened up on the multiple crises of our food system, climate and energy and showing the contradictions of capitalism and the false solutions purported, whilst also stressing for the need to continue to pursue the solutions which we know are real as our struggles for food sovereignty and to embrace global solidarity in this.
This year’s forum is taking place in Sri Lanka, which in 2024 voted in a new government, a political embodiment of the people-centric movement that has been running in the veins of Sri Lankans since the 2022 ‘Aragalaya’ Peoples’ Protests. Fueled by the economic crisis, Aragalaya revealed the deep-seated anger and disillusionment among Sri Lankans against their ruling elites. Moreover, it was a call for accountability and justice. A call for a just political solution to civil war reconciliation and rebuilding trust among communities. A call for Malayaga Community’s right to a dignified life and Indigenous people’s access to commons. The people believe that this moment presents an opportunity to reimagine Sri Lanka’s economic strategy. For decades, the country has been caught in a cycle of debt, relying on foreign loans and neoliberal policies to fuel growth. The collapse in 2022 exposed the inherent flaws in this system, necessitating a radical rethink of Sri Lanka’s development model.
INVITATION TO THE PRESS CONFERENCE
📢 Communiqué de presse : Cérémonie de clôture et conférence de presse
🗓️ 13 septembre, 18h45 (conférence de presse à 19h15) – NICD, Kandy, Sri Lanka
🌍 Les journalistes peuvent participer sur place ou via Zoom (avec interprétation en anglais, espagnol et sri-lankais) : nolog.link/s/v82Nz
“We affirm that popular agrarian reform is not an option but a necessity. Our lands are being turned into testing grounds for new colonial projects. Each of our fronts is a battlefield of struggle and they all converge towards one common goal; the libration of our people. Free Palestine, long live Palestine.” —- Speaker representing the NENA region
WORKING ON THE COMMON POLITICAL AGENDA
The delegates, regions and organizations are working on political actions and understandings to shape convergence. The reports back from the three assemblies demonstrated power and appetite for transformation. History owes an apology to people of diverse genders and sexualities, but they made history with their first assembly at the Nyéléni Forum. They want respect in rural communities, solidarity, access to all rights for all people, and defense of the commons. They want to build relationships based on respect and without discrimination. Young people want to decide, design and define, agriculture to be more attractive, and wisdom to be shared equally with care that fuels resistance. They want dignity and not debt. Women want justice, equality, freedom, peace and demilitarization. Feminist economy is an alternative with the collective reorganization of domestic and care work between all. They want life over profit, against the financialization of life. What rich contributions to kick-off our debates!
FROM THE AIRWAVES
In yesterday’s edition, Morgan Ody, General Coordinator of LVC, and Ibrahima Coulibaly, President of ROPPA and PAFO talked about food sovereignty, political change, and violence faced by peasants in resource rich contexts, that can often be traced back to strategic destabilization funded by multinationals. Ibrahima and Morgan also talked about means of action available to social movements in these contexts, the UNDROP and a possible alternative to the WTO.
The Nyeleni song echoed across the airwaves and in the auditorium.
You can tune in on https://t.ly/RadioNyeleni.
NYELENI SONG – (Translated from Sinhala)
Rise, Rise, Rise, oh Comrades, Rise, Rise, Rise..
Arise, Arise, Arise, oh Sisters, Arise, Arise, Arise..
Raise the flag once Enslaved and Beaten into submission ..
Let us Go, Go, Go forward, Go, Go, Go..
Break the Chains and Smile with the Spirit United
We suffer n’ suffer, We Beg n’ Plead
falling on our faces…
Tormented under the Boot of Oppression through an era of Shame..
Alight, to search n’ think through our path of Liberation
In the city that soars tearing the skies
Our blood dries up inside the factories
They killed the land and poison all earthly life
Even the food that nourishes has perished
Look into the past, look at the present, Raise the Cry of Victory Beyond
Fishermen.. Peasants.. Workers..
Unite and Raise our Voices, for the World is Ours
Unite to Build Together, for Freedom is Ours…
ART FOR CONVERGENCE
Artists of the Sri Lankan Fearless Collective will be tonight be projecting an image from yesterday’s workshop on the wall outside the NICD complex side entrance, from which to start the painting of the Nyeleni forum’s mural tomorrow. Everyone will be invited to come and paint! No one less than Indian actor and progressive activist Prakash Raj dedicated “Songs of Resillience” to Indians and all peoples who are suffering under fascist states.
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7 September
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On last day before the official opening of the Nyéléni Global Forum, the program continued with the Youth and Women’s Assemblies and Indigenous Peoples’ meetings as spaces for coming together and to provide further input into the Common Political Action Agenda.
YOUTH ASSEMBLY
“Agrarian reform means having youth there in dignified spaces, education, health, land, food, access to local production.”
Paulina Margarita Caal Chocooj, Movimiento Agroecológico de América Latina y el Caribe (MAELA)
Delegates under 35 met in regional groups to reflect on shared challenges, hopes, and determinations on creating pathways in a future that is so uncertain, especially for youth. A common theme that emerged across all regions: to ensure young people can make dignified livelihoods, and to create enabling environments for them to be able to freely choose to pursue alternatives, rooted in shared visions for justice. This includes opportunities for good employment and vocational training, universal access to food, nutrition and education, support in developing social solidarity economies, and platforms which allow for political decision-making. Delegates also talked about the need to build Intergenerational trust, working with elders while also being respected and valued for their unique experiences and perspectives as young people. In current contexts of capitalist, corporate and authoritarian pressure, land rights stand at the center of the struggle for (food) sovereignty. As one delegate put it: “Land is the root of freedom. Whoever controls our food, controls our freedom.” The assembly concluded with an affirmation of young people in solidarity of Palestine and occupied peoples all over the world: Free the people, free the land. Justice is in our hands.
WOMEN’s ASSEMBLY
Nyéléni is a struggle planted by a mythical Malian peasant woman. In its third edition, women make up 60% of participants, which acknowledges how there is no food sovereignty without women´s liberation. However, as most work done by women is still invisibilized, this assembly reinforced the need to raise women´s voices and recognition as farmers, fishers, pastoralists, and labourers in the struggle against patriarchal capitalism. The event began with a mistica and welcome by Anuka de Silva and Gayani Gomes from Sri Lanka, followed by a historical perspective of Nyéléni, after which the need for convergence around the Common Political Action Agenda was addressed. Then, representatives from La Via Campesina, World March of Women, Friends of the Earth, People´s Health Movement, World Forum of Fisher Peoples, International Indian Treaty Council and Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy, dialogued around the 6 axes of the CPAA. This was followed by participatory conversations to collectively answer the question: how can we make feminism central for the systemic transformation we want to build? The delegates talked about diverse issues such as access to land and rights, violence, debt, about placing life and care at the center of our system and so much more. Without feminism and solidarity, there is no agroecology! Without feminism and solidarity, there is no systemic transformation!
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ MEETING
“We think that there won’t be systemic transformation without considering the vision of Indigenous Peoples, which is basically the antithesis of capitalism”.
Saul Vicente Vazquez, IITC
Indigenous Peoples’ representatives got together in their meeting at night to address the Forum’s agenda from an Indigenous perspective and converge with other movements without losing their vision. They stress that systemic transformation cannot be achieved without Indigenous knowledge and approaches, which offer solutions to rebuild our relations with nature.
FROM THE AIRWAVES
Members of the North American Marine Alliance spoke about Indigenous fishers’ rights and the dangers of industrial aquaculture. Youth delegates from the People’s Health Movement shared about the challenges and perspectives of young people in the movement, followed by a conversation with two leaders from the women’s assembly. Listen every day from 11-11:30 and 16:30-17:00 Sri Lankan time for sound bites and music, and from 14:00-15:00 and 20:00-21:00 Sri Lankan time for interviews and insights from delegates and guests You can stay tuned by clicking below.
ART FOR CONVERGENCE
Vicky from the Fearless Collective held a workshop where delegates came together to share stories of the struggles and dreams around food sovereignty, what it means in their homes, their communities, and their visions for the future. These voices and visions are now becoming a living mural on the campus wall. Stay tuned and visit the site in the coming days to watch it grow, and to see the storytellers themselves emerge as characters in the artwork. Click on the picture to watch the whole gallery
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6 September 2025
Download the bulletin in PDF here
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY
More than 700 participants from every region of the world arrived in Sri Lanka, at the National Institute for Cooperative Development of Kandy, where the Nyéléni Global Forum will officially kick off next Monday.
The Forum represents social movements, small-scale food producers organizations, Indigenous Peoples, feminists, environmentalists, workers, migrants and consumers. For the first time, more than 60% of delegates are women and gender diverse people, while one third are youth.
This morning, regional delegations from Africa, Near East and North Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean, Europe and Central, and North America held their preparatory meetings to discuss our Common Political Action Agenda, the result of several months of regional and international consultations.
On this first day, the Forum reaffirmed its role as a space for global convergence, where the voices of grassroots peoples unite to start a journey towards systemic transformation. Together we build global convergence actions to make the people’s proposals heard in the face of global crises!
ASSEMBLY OF GENDER AND SEXUAL DIVERSITIES AND ALLIES
This is a historical moment for everyone here. The first Assembly of Gender and Sexual Diversities and Allies. People of all races, languages, sexualities, identities, and abilities are welcome to build with us. This space cannot be taken for granted. It is the result of years of struggle and a collective agreement to fight for a transformative world, where justice dignity, care and safety is guaranteed for all.
Paula Gioia, La Via Campesina
In the afternoon, delegates gathered for the first Diversities Assembly within the Nyéléni process, an occasion that has been long in the making.
Participants, in the form spoken word, breakout groups, storytelling and individual interventions, reflected on gender and sexual diversity, queerness and non-binarism in the context of food sovereignty, climate justice, health for all, and solidarity economies, collecting ideas to bring concrete proposals to enrich the Common Political Action Agenda.
The assembly closed with a call to build intersectional convergence and defend diversity in all its forms as a human and ecological right, central to systemic transformation.
“Our differences are being exploited to divide us rather than our diversity being used to bring us together” – Lise, Friends Of the Earth International
FROM THE AIRWAVES
Radio Nyéléni went live today here in Kandy, with music, interviews, podcast recordings and much more. We broadcast in a multitude of languages for anyone who wants to tune in and draw inspiration from this mix of cultures and social struggles that is the Nyéléni Global Forum. Listen every day from 11-11:30 and 16:30-17:00 Sri Lankan time for sound bites and music, and from 14:00-15:00 and 20:00-21:00 Sri Lankan time for interviews and insights from delegates and guests You can stay tuned by clicking below.
ART FOR CONVERGENCE
This is not a traditional gallery. It is a living tapestry of memories, struggles, and dreams. Bodies, lands, grief, and radical magination are honored here. In the spirit of Nyéléni, we weave pathways toward peoples’ economies, peoples’ democracy, international solidarity, food sovereignty, climate justice and health for all. Welcome to this living convergence. Click on the picture to watch the whole gallery
LOOKING AHEAD TO TOMORROW
Tomorrow, 7 September women, youth and Indigenous Peoples will hold their preparatory assemblies to the Nyéléni Global Forum. It will be a day full of content, which we will collect in our daily bulletin in multiple languages. Do not miss it!
SEE ALL THE PICTURES ON OUR FLICKR ACCOUNT
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