The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN. Among other things, the UNGA receives reports from other parts of the UN system and makes recommendations through resolutions. At the 76th session of the UNGA 76, which opened on 14 September 2021 in New York City, one of the reports was that of the FAO. This included the proposal for a resolution to proclaim 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists (IYRP). The FAO proposal is based on the original proposal made by the Government of Mongolia to the FAO Committee on Agriculture and endorsed by that body in October 2020. The proposal was subsequently endorsed by the FAO Council in December 2020 and by the FAO Conference in June 2021.
On 15 March 2022, UNGA passed the resolution - supported by102 countries - and assigned responsibilities to FAO for leading, facilitating and supporting the implementation of the IYRP and for setting up an International Steering Committee. This process will probably commence in late 2024 or early 2025.