Rights for peasants and biodiversity for all
Peasants are key to food security, the fight against climate change and the conservation of biodiversity security. CETIM struggles with La Vía Campesina for peasants’ rights.
Continue readingPeasants are key to food security, the fight against climate change and the conservation of biodiversity security. Yet their rights are systemically violated and they are subject to multiple discrimination.
80% of the people that suffer from hunger and extreme poverty live in rural areas and most of them are peasants
Each day peasant farms disappear because of the lack of remunerative prices or access to productive resources, and peasants are evicted from their lands or killed when they defend their rights.
CETIM is committed to a better protection and promotion of the rights of peasants alongside La Vía Campesina. The international peasant movement brings together more than 164 organisations in 73 countries. It represents about 200 million peasants. FIAN International is also a long-standing partner in this vital fight. The first victory came in 2012. A majority of the Member States of the Human Rights Council voted in favour of the resolution “Promotion and protection of the human rights of peasants and other people living in rural areas” (21/19). This resolution was presented by Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and South Africa. It establishes an intergovernmental working group. This new body is tasked with drafting and adopting a Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas.
A historic victory
After more than 17 years of struggle, CETIM and its partners see their efforts rewarded. A new international instrument was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2018. It is the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants.
This legal instrument now makes it possible to:
The final vote represents the culmination of a historic process for rural communities. With 122 votes in favour, 8 votes against and 54 abstentions, the forum of UNGA representing 193 Member States, ushered in a new promising chapter in the struggle for the rights of peasants and other rural communities throughout the world.
This Declaration is an international legal instrument that can change the lives of millions of peasants around the world. This is why the CETIM, La Via Campesina and its allies are mobilising to support the implementation processes. And this at the international, regional and national levels.
In October 2023, the United Nations Human Rights Council, with an overwhelming majority of member states in favour, took a historic step by voting in favour of Resolution 54/9 to create a follow-up mechanism to the Declaration, in the form of a new UN Special Procedure: a Working Group of experts is now mandated to work on the promotion and implementation of the UNDROP.
For more information on the Declaration and the struggle for peasants’ rights:
Visit our website Defending Peasants’ rightsTS’ RIGHTS. Platform of rural struggles in action!
Read our didactic training sheets
Peasants are key to food security, the fight against climate change and the conservation of biodiversity security. CETIM struggles with La Vía Campesina for peasants’ rights. On the occasion of the 30th session of the Human Rights Council, the CETIM, FIAN International and La Vía Campesina have the pleasure to invite you to a side event on The Rights of Peasants and Other Rural Workers: The Value Added of a UN Declaration Monday 21 September, 2015, 13:00-15:00, Palais des Nations, Room […] The recognition of the right to land, a historic demand by peasant movements, is gaining momentum at the international level. This publication takes stock of this major issue of our times. It is the result of major research and inquiry, and the fruit of close collaboration with La Vía Campesina. On the occasion of its presence in Geneva in November to participate in the informal consultations on the rights of peasants, the CETIM interviewed Federico Pacheco, leader of the Rural Workers Union in Andalusia (Spain) and member of La Vía Campesina, on the right to land. The second session of the intergovernmental group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas was held in Geneva from 2-6 February 2015. A revised draft Declaration was presented. The new draft takes up most of the proposals put forward by peasants' organizations at the informal consultations in November 2014. A […]
Rights for peasants and biodiversity for all
Side Event “The Rights of Peasants and Other Rural Workers: The Value Added of a UN Declaration”, Monday 21 September, 2015, 13:00-15:00
The new publication of the CETIM on the right to land is out
Interview with Federico Pacheco, leader of the SOC-SAT (Andalusia, Spain)
Peasants’ proposals included in the revised draft Declaration