Rights of Peasants

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.

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.

Exclusive interview with Carlos Duarte, Chair of the UN Working Group on UNDROP

The conversation took place during his visit to Geneva, on the occasion of the presentation to the Human Rights Council of the newly released report on the systemic challenges faced by rural communities around the world. Duarte outlined the report’s drafting process — which was marked by significant civil society participation — and highlighted its […]

Systemic Challenges and Good Practices in Rural Areas – The 2nd Report of the UN Working Group on UNDROP

Also published on the Defending Peasants’ Rights website Read also the interview with Carlos Duarte, Chair of the Working Group on the Right to Food ARTICLE Seven years after the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), the situation remains mixed: undeniable legal […]

Panama: Artisanal Fisherspeople highlight human rights violations at UN

Indigenous fishing leaders from Panama’s Ngäbe Buglé people are at the UN Human Rights Council this week to highlight the repression of indigenous fishers and widespread fishing bans which threaten their livelihoods. The government of Panama has successively cut off access to traditional fishing grounds of the Ngäbe Buglé people since 2010, promising compensation in […]

Nyéléni Global Forum: Are Popular Struggles Writing a New Page of History?

Article published in Le Courrier [in French], 16 September 2025 By Raffaele Morgantini, Representative of CETIM at the UN The third edition of the Nyéléni Global Forum took place in early September in Sri Lanka. After two previous sessions focused on food sovereignty and then on agroecology, this large gathering of social movements broadened its […]

3rd Nyéléni Global Forum: Sri Lanka hosts the largest gathering of social movements calling for ‘systemic transformation’

[1st publication on Defending Peasants’ Rights September 5, 2025 – Image: https://nyeleniglobalforum.org/] Sri Lanka is ready to host the world’s largest gathering of social movements, taking place from 6 to 13 September. The 3rd Nyéleni Forum comes at a crucial moment, as multiple overlapping crises intensify and plunge the world into more inequality, social injustice, and […]