MISA condemns UNESCO mission to Ngorongoro, Tanzania

On 3–9 February 2024, a UNESCO mission investigated allegations of human rights violations against Maasai pastoralists in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), a World Heritage Site in northern Tanzania. The Tanzanian civil society and international organisations in MISA (Maasai International Solidarity Alliance), which includes CELEP, expressed serious concerns that the mission was not publicly announced and the local Maasai people were not consulted.

The Maasai had regularly reported evictions and human rights violations to UNESCO and other UN bodies, and called for on-the-ground investigation already in 2021. On 4 February 2024, they learned from informal sources that UNESCO was conducting such a mission in NCA and would be meeting only government-appointed stakeholders.

MISA urged UNESCO to cancel this non-transparent and non-inclusive mission and to create a legitimate space for the Maasai to take part in consultations according to the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

The letter from MISA can be found here. Several Members of European Parliament (MEPs) likewise wrote to UNESCO to express their concerns about the mission and asked UNESO to suspend the designation of NCA as a World Heritage Site, seeing as UNESCO’s human rights obligations are no longer respected. The MEPs’ letter can be found here.

Posted on 20 February 2024 in News, Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralism, Mobility & Land Tenure, Pastoralism, Policy & Power