UNCCD COP17 – Youth4Soil Manifesto & Celebration of International Year of the WomanFarmer 2026

UNCCD COP17
Youth4Soil Manifesto & Celebration of International Year of the WomanFarmer 2026
15:30-17:00, MET24

BackgroundLand and soil restoration are crucial for achieving food security, climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable livelihoods. Young people are already taking the lead in land and soil restoration; they are training peers, restoring degraded lands, practicing composting and agroecology, applying Indigenous and local knowledge, and demonstrating new forms of leadership. Women farmers, across generations, are fundamental to food security, improved nutrition, healthy soils, resilient rural livelihoods and sustainable agrifood systems, yet they often lack secure and equal rights to the land they cultivate, including access to land registration, inheritance, and representation in land governance institutions – rights that Parties themselves affirmed as a prerequisite for sustainable land management and Land Degradation Neutrality at COP.14 in 2019, and reaffirmed at COP.15 in 2022 . These barriers, together with limited institutional access and inadequate financing,constrain the leadership and impact of both groups.

This session will celebrate the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 by highlighting women and youth as key agents of land restoration, agroecological transitions and soil stewardship. It will demonstrate how investing in women’s secure land rights, leadership and youth action can accelerate healthier soils, more resilient agrifood systems and more equitable rural development. It builds on the Youth4Soil Manifesto – a youth-led agenda developed by young people across regions to protect and restore the world beneath our feet. It features the launch of the Youth4Soil Manifesto Implementation Guide, offering practical pathways to translate youth commitments into action in support of Decision 5/COP.15 and the UNCCD Youth Engagement Strategy, the launch of the World Food Forum National Youth Chapter – Mongolia, and a showcase of youth-led innovationsin agrifood systems and soil health, with a particular attention to the leadership of young women, Indigenous, and pastoralist youth. This event will also demonstrate the potential of agroecology and soil health to ensure gender equality and support female and young farmers, through improved health, land ownership, financial gains, and participation in decision-making.

Objectives

• Launch of the Youth4Soil Manifesto Implementation Guide and the World Food Forum National Youth Chapter – Mongolia, as concrete youth-led contributions advancing Decision 5/COP.15 and the UNCCD Youth Engagement Strategy – to address synergies/avoid duplications.
• Showcase youth-led innovations in agrifood systems and soil health across regions.
• Celebrate the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 by elevating women farmers’ essential and often under-recognized contributions to food security, improved nutrition, healthy soil, and resilient rural economies.
• Call to action on securing land rights for women and youth as a foundation for sustainable land management and healthy so

At the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification COP17 Mongolia Side Event: “Youth4Soil Manifesto & Celebration of the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026,” held on 27 August, Irish Baguilat, AFA Coordinator for Sustainable Agriculture and Women Farmers’ Agenda and Erkin Konurbaev of KAFLU, participated as panelists.

The panel discussed intergenerational dialogue and meaningful pathways for securing women’s and youth’s land tenure rights, while strengthening their leadership in land and soil health restoration.

The discussion underscored the need to ensure that women and young people have secure access to land, a voice in decision-making, and opportunities to lead efforts to build healthy soils, resilient communities, and sustainable food systems.