Young people around the world call for greater participation and protection in discussions on land rights.

In the Catatumbo region, one of the areas historically hardest hit by the Colombian armed conflict, young people from Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa gathered for several days to debate, discuss, and develop proposals on the present and future of land rights. They did so within the framework of the Global Youth Land Forum, a meeting prior to the Global Land Forum to be held in Bogotá from June 16 to 19.

Ocaña, the gateway to Catatumbo, was the city chosen as the epicenter of dialogue between rural, Indigenous, and Afro-descendant youth. In the midst of this territorial dialogue, voices were heard that, although coming from different latitudes, shared demands similar to those frequently heard in Colombia regarding land tenure.

All of these requests, submitted by the more than 70 young people who were in Catatumbo this week, will be included in a political declaration to be presented at the Global Land Forum. They will then be transformed into a strategic document with key actions that the ILC will provide to its members to drive the transformation of these territories from one of the most fundamental perspectives: that of the young people, who will be the ones who will inhabit them.

From Indonesia, Mai Putri Evitasari, 26, a member of the Konsorsium Pembaruan Agraria, emphasized that access to land must cease to be an empty promise: “Young people must have the same space and opportunity to reflect on and contribute to the right to land.”

Her call was clear: comprehensive agrarian reform is needed; something that, she said, cannot remain a historical debt, but must become a collective cause. “We must build a collective force and a unified voice to defend the rights of peasants, Indigenous peoples, fishermen, women, and youth,” she said.

From Ecuador, Mayerly Carreño, a 27-year-old member of the Luna Creciente movement, demanded guarantees of protection for those who dare to speak out for their land. “One of the key issues we emphasize within this agenda is guaranteeing the security and protection of land rights and those of land defenders,” she said. Her concern reflects the fear of social leaders who face constant threats for defending their lands against megaprojects, violence, and extractivism, in a region like Latin America, deeply affected by this scourge.

These demands were echoed by Antonella Sleiman, a 30-year-old from the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, and representative of the Latin American Semi-Arid Platform. She emphasized that youth leadership must move from rhetoric to action: "One of the most pressing issues is youth leadership and participation," she said. For her, symbolic recognition is not enough; instead, it is urgent that youth have a voice in the political and environmental decisions that affect their present and future.

For her part, Ximena Vilcay, 34, who also arrived from Argentina as part of the Mujeres del Chaco Americano collective, proposed an approach that combines gender, generation, and climate action. “One of the prioritized topics has to do with actions related to climate change adaptation and mitigation from a gender and generation perspective,” she noted.

Finally, Isabel Toscano, a 24-year-old from the municipality of El Tarra, in the heart of Catatumbo, put forward a demand: "We demand that the participation rights of all young people be guaranteed and that security be guaranteed for the defense of the land." Toscano, born in a region marked by violence and hope, and who participated in several Youth Forum events as a speaker, recalled that in many parts of the country and the continent, being a young defender of the land also entails risk to one's own life.

Environment and Health Journalist