Pastoralist communities sustain some of the world’s most fragile and biodiverse ecosystems. Across the world, they manage rangelands, maintain livestock diversity and hold extensive ecological knowledge that contributes to climate resilience, landscape restoration and food systems. Yet young pastoralists, especially women, remain largely absent from decision-making processes that shape land governance, mobility rights and climate responses. Opportunities for cross regional exchange, leadership development and collective advocacy are still limited. The International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP 2026) opens an important window: global attention, policy discussions and institutional processes converge around pastoralism. It offers a concrete opportunity to connect territorial realities with policy and practice spaces, strengthen alliances and bring pastoralist perspectives into ongoing discussions.
The Inter-Regional School for Young Pastoralists 2026 responds to this opportunity. Convened by the International Land Coalition (ILC) together with regional pastoralist platforms — the Central Asia Pastoralist Alliance (CAPA), the South Asia Pastoralist Alliance (SAPA), the Africa Rangelands Initiative, the Asia Ecosystem Restoration Platform and the National Land Coalition (NLC) Kyrgyzstan — the School accompanies pastoralist youth to connect their territorial experiences with regional and global processes, while bringing cross-regional perspectives back to their own territories and organisations.