Since its adoption in 2018, UNDROP has inspired national, regional and international jurisprudence, laws and policies to protect the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas. Here are examples of decisions of national and regional courts and UN human rights bodies in which different rights enshrined in UNDROP have been protected. You will also find examples of inclusion of UNDROP in the work of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review, Special Procedures and Treaty Bodies. And you will find information about the new UN Working Group on UNDROP, composed of 5 independent experts, which started its mandate in May 2024!
This article was originally published by La Via Campesina on 16 September 2026. (Geneva, 16 September 2026) — La Via Campesina, supported by CETIM and FIAN International, is in Geneva from 12 to 19 September to participate in the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN HRC), which is taking place from…
Defending Peasants Rights hereby shares a Call for Input released by the UN Working Group on UNDROP ahead of its visit to Paraguay. We highly encourage Paraguayan rural movements and organisations, as well as their allies, to participate in this important process. Please see the full call below: Purpose:To inform the Working Group on the…
What happens when something as fundamental as the seeds we rely on for food becomes a commodity? The new report by the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas examines the growing battle over seeds through the lenses of human rights, food sovereignty and biodiversity. At its…
Defending Peasants Rights is pleased to publish this report dedicated to the Cuban laboratory on peasant rights and food sovereignty, elaborated by the Cuban Association of Small-Scale Farmers (ANAP), with the support of CETIM. Cuba’s experience demonstrates that the principles and provisions enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other…
Article originally published in Spanish by Elena Rusca on June 25, 2026, in the Chilean newspaper El Clarín. Available here. *Image: El mundo campesino. Elena Rusca By Elena Rusca, June 25th, 2026 Interview with Geneviève Savigny, a member of the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants (UNDROP) Geneva, June 25th, 2026 — Elena…
Defending Peasants’ Rights hereby shares a study authored by Carlos Duarte, member of the UN Working Group on UNDROP, and published by the Pontifical Javeriana University of Cali and the Land Observatory (Observatorio de Tierras) in May 2026. The study examines the growing trend of agrarian counter-reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean and their…
Defending Peasants’ Rights is pleased to share a landmark study, published in April 2026 by researchers from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Cali, Colombia, including Carlos Duarte, member of the UN Working Group on UNDROP. This study provides the first regional mapping of laws recognising peasants and other rural populations across Latin America. It analyses…
Following a ten-day visit to Ghana at the invitation of the Government, the Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas released an incisive statement (see below) highlighting the main outcomes of its visit, including advancements and ongoing challenges faced by UNDROP rights holders in Ghana in the realisation…
This webinar brought together rural movements, civil society organisations, and the Chair of the UN Working Group on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) for an international dialogue on one of the Declaration’s most fundamental principles: the right to participation. Held in the context…
Lara Estevão Lourenço: National Human Rights Councilor and community lawyer for the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT – La Via Campesina Brazil)Letícia Souza: National Human Rights Councilor and community lawyer for the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST – La Via Campesina Brazil) On June 5, 2025, the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), after being prompted by Brazilian…
Editor’s note: The United Nations Working Group on UNDROP has opened a call for inputs inviting civil society, states, and multilateral institutions to directly contribute to its next report on the Right to Seeds, which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in October 2026. This is a key opportunity for rural movements…
Editor’s note: The United Nations Working Group on UNDROP has opened a call for inputs inviting civil society, states, and multilateral institutions to directly contribute to its next report on Peasant Territorialities of Sea and Land, which will be delivered to the UN General Assembly in the fall of 2026. This is a key opportunity…
