Maasai International Solidarity Alliance Newsletters

The Maasai International Solidarity Alliance (MISA)

MISA – of which the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns is a member – is an international alliance standing in solidarity with the Maasai of Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Loliondo in northern Tanzania. It brings together faith-based organizations, human rights groups, international aid and development organizations as well as researchers. The alliance includes the Africa Europe Faith Justice Network (AEFJN), Agrecol Association for AgriCulture & Ecology, Coalition of European Lobbies for Eastern African Pastoralism (CELEP), Coopération Internationale pour le Développement et la Solidarité (CIDSE), Food First Information and Action Network (FIAN), Koordinierungsstelle der Österreichischen Bischofskonferenz (KOO, Coordinating Office of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference), Misereor, and Welthaus Graz.

MISA’s main objective is to end the human rights violations facing the Maasai of northern Tanzania.

In May–June 2023, MISA organized a lobby tour in Germany, Austria, Belgium and Italy, which enabled a Maasai delegation to voice concerns to European decision-makers.

In April 2024, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns hosted a Maasai delegation in Washington, DC to share their concerns with the State Department, USAID, Office of Vice President Kamala Harris and various Congressional offices.

MISA supports the voices of grassroots organizations representing the Maasai at the local level, such as PINGOs Forum and Pastoral Women Council (PWC), which are in regular contact with affected communities and their representatives, including traditional leaders, women, youth and councilors / village chairpersons. MISA is also supported by Tanzanian lawyers representing the Maasai in several court cases that have been launched to address violations of their land rights.

Maryknoll Missioners Solidarity with the Maasai of Tanzania

Watch this 7 minute video explaining the history of the Maryknoll missioners accompanying and service the Maasai people in northern Tanzania.

Read our Statement of Solidarity with the Maasai of Tanzania released on World Heritage Day, April 18, 2024.

MISA Newsletters

MISA produces a newsletter to provide updates on what is happening to Maasai communities in the Ngorongoro and Loliondo areas and in other parts of northern Tanzania. These are areas from which the Maasai have been or are being forcibly evicted by the Tanzanian government for “development” of wildlife conservation, hunting and tourism. This newsletter brings background information and news about community actions and legal progress, as reported by Maasai members of MISA in and from northern Tanzania.

The first two issues of the newsletter were published in September 2023; one appeared at the beginning of September in English and German and the second in late September in English and French.

3rd issue October 2023

4th issue November and December 2023

5th issue, January and February 2024

6th issue, March and April 2024

7th issue, April and May 2024

8th issue, June – August 2024

9th issue, September-October 2024

10th issue,  November-December 2024

11th issue, January-March 2025

Photo by Bertrand Lacote, A Maasai herder gazes at vehicles coming down from Ngorongoro, CC January 2, 2020