«Il n‘y a pas un monde développé et un monde sous-développé, mais un seul monde mal développé»
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.
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
Between the 9th and 13th of November, a delegation of La Vía Campesina leaders was in Geneva to support the Declaration on the rights of peasants which is being drafted in the Human Rights Council. The leaders participated in an informal consultation meeting and highlighted some of the key elements of the draft Declaration, in […] Mr Chairman, Famine and malnutrition continue to affect nearly a billion persons throughout the world, 80% of whom live in rural areas and most of whom are food producers such as small family peasants. These peasants are confronted, and without any protection, not only with globalized market rules and commodity speculation in food but also […] Mr Chairman, The CETIM and the FIMARC (Fédération Internationale des Mouvements d’Adultes Ruraux Catholiques) would first like to pay tribute to Mr Olivier de Schutter for his contributions to the implementation of the right to food. During the six years of his mandate, Mr de Schutter has studied various aspects of the right to food, […] Victory for the rights of peasants at the UN: the Human Rights Council renews the mandate of the intergovernmental working group in charge of developing a UN Declaration on the rights of peasants! The Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution allowing the continuation of the process toward the adoption of a UN Declaration on […] Madame Chair, Famine and malnutrition continue to gain ground throughout the world, and we have known for several years that the Millennium Development Goals will not be reached in 2015. Worse, 80% of more than a billion persons suffering from hunger and malnutrition live in rural areas and are food producers, as both the Advisory […]
La Vía Campesina leaders in Geneva to support the Declaration on the rights of peasants
Rights of peasants: the work must continue!
Right to food
Increasing support in favor of the Declaration on the rights of peasants
Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas
