Campaign “Protection of Peasants’ Rights”

Peasants 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.

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.

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:

17 April: International Day of Peasant Struggles

Today, April 17th, marks the International Day of Peasant Struggles. The Defending Peasants Rights platform, of which CETIM is a founding member, stands in solidarity with peasants and rural communities worldwide. We honour those who have lost their lives in the struggle for dignity, land, and justice, and those who continue to feed humanity, protect […]

Yaoundé Declaration: The WTO And Free Trade Cause Hunger, Poverty And Inequality

CETIM and La Via Campesina were in Yaoundé, Cameroon, to closely monitor the proceedings of the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (26–29 March 2026). CETIM and LVC advocate the dismantling of the WTO, as its paradigm is based on a deeply asymmetrical economic and trade architecture that serves the interests of transnational capital to the detriment […]

The WTO at a deadlock: Will the Ministerial Conference save it?

The current architecture of global trade, led by the World Trade Organization (WTO), is at a historic breaking point. The neoliberal model, based on unchecked market liberalization, privatization of public services, and the widespread commodification of all aspects of our societies, has failed to deliver on its promises of development and prosperity. On the contrary, […]

The right to participation – The 3rd Report of the UN Working Group on UNDROP

On 16 October 2025, the Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas presented its third thematic report (A/80/180) to the UN General Assembly in New York. The report delves into the right to participation of rural peoples and highlights the entrenched barriers suffered by them when it comes […]

UN experts urge binding accountability for agribusiness to safeguard peasants’ rights

Published the 16th of October 2025 on Defending Peasants’ Rights Ahead of the upcoming UN negotiation session (20–24 October 2025) to elaborate a legally binding treaty on transnational corporations, the UN Working Group on Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas and the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food have issued a powerful […]