The third Nyéléni Global Forum, held in Kandy, Sri Lanka, in September 2025, was a historic milestone in the fight for global food sovereignty and system change. Bringing together 700 participants from more than 500 organisations across 101 countries, the forum served as a powerful convergence of movements dedicated to dismantling oppressive systems and building a future rooted in justice, solidarity, internationalism, and peoples’ sovereignty. Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is proud to have been part of this critical process.

A catalyst for movement convergence

FoEI has been a catalyst throughout the whole Nyéléni process, building on our global structure to facilitate the convergence of diverse social movements. We have been part of the Global Steering Committee since its inception, where we developed inclusive methodologies and the communication strategy, and strengthened strategic alliances across borders.

Our commitment was reflected in the participation of a delegation of over 40 representatives from all our regions, ensuring that grassroots voices from all over the world were central in all discussions. By sharing our global political understanding, as articulated in our Pathways to system change framework, we helped provide a strategic lens that facilitated the alignment of environmental and social justice struggles within the Common Political Action Agenda. We also played an important role in the communications of the process, contributing to shaping the communication convergence of the whole process. FoEI and Real World Radio have produced numerous pieces to explain and promote the process and also produced a live radio during the forum. Ultimately, we strived to help build the collective people power necessary for a systemic and global transformation.

The Common Political Action Agenda: a significant step towards system change

A key achievement of this convergence was the agreement of the Common Political Action Agenda (CPAA). The CPAA not only presents proposals for action but shares a systemic vision to unify struggles for food sovereignty and system change to build economic, social, gender, racial, environmental and intergenerational justice, representing hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

It
is organised in six axes:

i. Construct and defend people’s democracy and rights, peace and internationalist solidarity, while dismantling the systems of oppression as well as demanding the radical transformation of the United Nations system.

ii. Build people’s economies rooted in equity, social justice and the relationships among peoples, land and territories, through social, solidarity, and feminist-economy approaches.

iii. Build food sovereignty and agroecology by strengthening the right to food through local food systems and reclaiming the central role of the state.

iv. Secure land, water, territories and agrarian reform through just and inclusive (re)distribution of land, water and territories, advancing comprehensive and people-led agrarian reforms that ensure the right to self-determination and enable the full realisation of agroecology and food sovereignty.

v. Achieve health for all by advancing a vision of health rooted in the principles of buen vivir, connecting health to food sovereignty and a just climate transition.

vi. Achieve Climate Justice and Feminist and Just Energy Transition by building a new public, people-led, 100% renewable energy system, while ensuring access to secure and affordable energy for all.

An intersectional, cross-sectoral, and feminist approach will guide this agenda, challenging power both within and beyond our movements, and creating collective spaces to imagine a different and better future for our communities. This strategy will be brought to life through collective mobilisation, internationalism and solidarity, as well as political formation, grassroots communications, and strengthening our movements from within while continuing to broaden our alliances.

The CPAA is a call for social and grassroots movements to take collective action towards achieving people power, based on our diversity and recognising that society and nature are inseparable.

The Nyéléni process exemplifies grassroots strategic engagement done right

The Nyéléni process offers a model for movement building towards systemic change. It is not a series of meetings but a rigorous methodology of solidarity. By building convergences rather than simple coalitions, FoEI helps create a unified front capable of resisting the rise of fascism and corporate power over our democracies.

As Martín Drago, FoEI Food Sovereignty Coordinator, puts it, “Nyéléni is a process of struggle, resistance and convergence. It did not begin with the organisation of this third forum, nor does it end with its conclusion. Deeply committed to systemic change, we will strengthen our vision for transformative change, for political formation process, collective action, and mass mobilisation.”

Through the strategic support of Friends of the Earth International, the food sovereignty movement has successfully transitioned into a broader global front of social movements for system change. By supporting this process, we are not just launching a new campaign; we are investing in a proven methodology for building people-powered sovereignty and lasting systemic transformation.