Between February 24 and 28, representatives of grassroots movements and Indigenous peoples from around the world will gather in Cartagena, Colombia, for the2nd International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARDD+20). Delegates from more than 70 countries are expected to attend.
As geopolitical conflicts intensify and corporate control over land, territory and natural resources deepens, social movements, and Indigenous Peoples from across the world are rallying behind the Second International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD+20) – being hosted by the Government of the Republic of Colombia and to be held in Cartagena, Colombia, from 24 to 28 February 2026.
For many of us, the word ‘commons’ will bring up associations to natural resources as land, and perhaps to earlier times when the commoners, the lay people as peasants were called, were allowed to use the commons to find firewood and gather food. In Europe, the enclosure of those commons with the onset of privatisation in the 18th century put an end to this. The end of these communal forms of agriculture led to the precarization of women’s lives in particular as it destroyed their means of livelihood and weakened their social power. But the commons can actually be referring to so much more, in fact to a paradigm shift taking us in the very opposite direction of capitalism.
In this interview, Saúl Vicente Vázquez highlights the urgent struggle of Indigenous peoples to defend their lands as a vital act of protecting the environment and sustaining life itself. He emphasizes the inseparable connection between territorial rights and environmental justice, calling for collective action to safeguard Indigenous territories against exploitation and destruction. Saúl’s testimony underscores the need for global recognition of Indigenous sovereignty as essential to a just and dignified future for all.
As part of the month of Working Women’s Struggle, the voices of pastoralist women resonate strongly from different corners of the world. Their leadership, resilience, and deep knowledge of their territories are essential for the sustainability of their communities and the ecosystems they inhabit. During a recent webinar organized by WAMIP (the World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous Peoples and Pastoralists), Mamankhuu Sodnom from Mongolia, Megha Sheth from India, Monicah Yator from Kenya, and Marite Álvarez from Argentina, shared their experiences, challenges, and pathways to women’s empowerment in pastoralism.
As Indigenous Peoples, we affirm that the concept of a just transition as it is currently presented is not true, as it implies initiatives and proposals driven by transnational corporations and States to implement and consolidate the free-market economic model, neoliberalism, and deepens the inequalities of the capitalist system.
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