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<p class="MsoNormal">Dear Partners,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am over the top excited to relay to you some good news. The International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists for 2026 has taken a huge step toward being a reality. Today at the FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG) meeting, the Mongolian
Government presented the proposal for an IYRP and it was immediately approved without objections or questions! Now the proposal will become part of the official meeting record and will be passed on to the 165<sup>th</sup> session of the FAO Council (in December
2020) for adoption by the 42<sup>nd</sup> session of the FAO Conference (in June 2021). Then on to the U.N. General Assembly!
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="color:#26282A">And a few more details…The Mongolian Government gave a short and clear justification and call for support. The proposal was accepted in writing by many countries as noted on the
new IYRP website, and orally today by Myanmar, Sudan, Philippines, Mali, China, Peru, Turkey and Kenya. Also chat messages of support were sent from K</span>orea, Cuba, Egypt, Italy and Saudi Arabia. This, in addition to the 13 countries that previously sent
letters of support to Mongolia and COAG: Afghanistan, Australia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Finland, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, and Spain.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">This was definitely a team effort. The IYRP Support Groups will be meeting soon to discuss strategies for next steps as we work to keep the momentum going through the rest of the U.N. process. Stay tuned!
And, please visit <a href="https://www.iyrp.info">https://www.iyrp.info</a>!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">Warmest regards,<br>
Barb<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Sample Kudos Sent from Support Group Members from Around the World:<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-add-space:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
This is wonderful news! Thank you to the Government of Mongolia for your leadership. When we work together there is no limit to what we can achieve.<o:p></o:p></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-add-space:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
A historic day for our globe - thanks to you all for your incredible efforts!!!<o:p></o:p></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-add-space:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
<span lang="EN-CA">Marvelous team work! … fasten your seat belts this is just the beginning. Congratulations to all!<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-add-space:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
Really awesome news!! Worth the effort!<o:p></o:p></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoPlainText" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">Fantastic news! Many thanks to the Mongolian Government and to everyone for pulling together to make this truly international initiative take a huge step forward. Bravo all!<o:p></o:p></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Barbara Hutchinson, PhD<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">The Rangelands Partnership<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">IYRP Support Group Secretariat<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">University of Arizona<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Tucson, Arizona USA 85721<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">1(520)909-4722<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">barbarah@cals.arizona.edu<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><img border="0" width="233" height="365" style="width:2.4236in;height:3.7986in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D697E7.FFB7BF40"></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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