«Il n‘y a pas un monde développé et un monde sous-développé, mais un seul monde mal développé»
At the global level, there are currently some 1.2 billion peasants and together with their families they represent one third of humanity. In absolute terms, there are more peasants today than ever before in history.
Peasants and other rural workers are key to food sovereignty and the realization of the right to food, in particular in developing countries where they provide up to 80% of the food consumed at the local level.
Peasants play a key role in the fight against climate change and the conservation of biodiversity
Yet peasants and other people working in rural areas are among the most vulnerable and discriminated-against group. They are victims of multiple violations of their human rights and suffer disproportionately from hunger and poverty. 80% of those victims of hunger in the world live and work in rural areas.
The CETIM works for several years in favor of the rights of peasants. lt provides its support to organizations representing peasants and other rural workers in the Global South for the access to the UN human rights protection mechanisms. The CETIM is also strongly involved to their sides in the campaign for the adoption of a United Nations Declaration on the rights of peasants and oher people working in rural areas, offering its support so that they are able to participate in the negotiations and present their proposals.
A Declaration on the Rights of Peasants
On 17 December 2018, the United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Others Working in Rural Areas. Alongside La Via Campesina, CETIM was strongly involved in the process that led to the adoption of this indispensable tool. In particular, it offered its support to peasants to enable them to participate in the negotiations and to make their proposals heard.
The adoption of the Declaration is a historic moment. It is the result of a 17-year struggle for the recognition of the rights of this particularly vulnerable population. If respected and implemented, this instrument will be useful, not only for peasants, but for humanity as a whole.
One year after the adoption of this indispensable tool, a joint declaration was signed by nine special rapporteurs and experts and four members of the UN treaty bodies. This document stresses that farmers must participate “in all decision-making processes that affect their lives, lands, resources and livelihoods” and repeatedly urges states to play a key role in implementing the Declaration.
In October 2023, the United Nations Human Rights Council, with an overwhelming majority of Member States in favour, took another historic step. It voted in favour of Resolution 54/9 to create a follow-up mechanism to the Declaration. A Working Group of experts is now responsible for promoting and implementing the Declaration.
Download for free the e-book edited by CETIM “The UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants“
Protect Peasants’ Rights Campaign
Access to justice for peasants
Training sheets on peasants’ rights
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 54th session (11 September – 13 October 2023) [Excerpt from the declaration] Following the military takeover of Niger on July 26, 2023, regional institutions and international organizations such as ECOWAS, UEMOA, the AU, the World Bank and the European Union began taking unprecedented measures against Niger and its people. These economic and […]
Continue readingThe current climate crisis is part and parcel of an economic system based on the exploitation of natural resources and on intensive, industrial, input-intensive farming methods. It is a system that sacrifices environmental balance and ecosystems on the altar of profit at any price for the dominant minorities, namely the transnational economic and financial elites. […]
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Defending farmers’ rights has published some articles related to the content of the webinar. So, you can find an interview of Jessie MacInnis in which she further explores possibilities for the UNDROP in Canada. They have published an article by David Otieno on the legal battle his organization is fighting to prevent the lifting of […]
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The Confédération paysanne organisation and the CETIM have submitted a referral to the UN on the topic of “mega-basins,” aiming to report human rights violations, violent police repression and the criminalisation of people and organisations which oppose these water reservoir projects. The “mega-basin” project only benefits a small minority of farmers linked to the agribusiness […]
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CETIM and Solifonds, which is celebrating its fortieth anniversary, invited Soumia Benelfatmi Elgarrab and Zaina Issayh to testify about the daily life of strawberry pickers in the region of Huelva, Spain. “Swiss consumers do not know about the exploitative conditions under which the strawberries that they eat are harvested by Moroccan women” says Zaina Issayh […]
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