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.
A historic victory
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.
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:
- to better protect the rights of peasants and improve livelihoods in rural area
- to reinforce food sovereignty, the fight against climate change and the conservation of biodiversity
- adopt genuine agrarian reform and better protection against land grabbing
- protect the right of farmers to save, use, exchange and sell their seeds
- guarantee remunerative prices for peasant production and rights for agricultural workers.
A fundamental instrument
In September 2012, the Human Rights Council adopted by vote (23 Yes, 9 No and 15 Abs) a resolution (21/19) presented by Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, and South Africa establishing an intergovernmental working group to develop and adopt a Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas.
The decision of the Human Rights Council was the result of a long and joint effort by the CETIM, La Vía Campesina and FIAN International.
The 17th December 2018, the 73 Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 73) in New York adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. Now that the Declaration is an international legal instrument, CETIM, La Via Campesina (LVC) and its allies will mobilise to support regional and national implementation processes.
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.
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants is an international legal instrument. It can change the lives of millions of peasants around the world. This is why CETIM, La Vía Campesina and its allies are now mobilising to support the implementation processes. And this, both at regional and national levels.
UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants
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.
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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 […]
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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.
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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.
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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 […]
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«Il n‘y a pas un monde développé et un monde sous-développé, mais un seul monde mal développé»
