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!
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…
Article originally posted on: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/tools-and-resources/peasants-right-seed-briefing-paper-working-group-peasants-and-other (26 November 2025) The Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas has issued a briefing paper on peasants’ right to seed, in connection with the Eleventh Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture…
Image: https://static2.pelahatchienews.com/data/articles/xl-why-seed-sovereignty-is-vital-for-indigenous-peoples-1694443833.jpg Defending Peasants’ Rights hereby republishes the press release issued by the UN Working Group on Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas on 11 December 2025 (available here) GENEVA – UN experts* today welcomed a landmark ruling of the High Court of Kenya declaring unconstitutional provisions of the Seed and Plant Varieties…
Editor’s note: A new court ruling marks a historic milestone for peasants’ rights and the right to seeds in Kenya and internationally. In an unprecedented decision, the High Court has reaffirmed that rights protected by the Constitution must be interpreted in light of international frameworks such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of…
Defending Peasants’ Rights hereby republishes the statement released by the UN Working Group on UNDROP on the occasion of COP30, taking place in Brazil from 10 to 21 November 2025 (also available here). Geneva, 10 November 2025 Peasants and Rural Workers Rights at the Heart of Climate JusticeAs world leaders and civil society gather for…
Defending Peasants’ Rights hereby republishes the statement released on the website of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (available here). Editor’s note: The experts’ visit, initially planned for November 4–14, 2025, was postponed despite its critical timing, following recent protests in Ecuador that were met with a state of emergency and…
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…
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 joint statement calling for “binding accountability for agribusiness to safeguard…
Image: https://www.rvasia.org/history/international-day-rural-women GENEVA – October 15, 2025 – On the International Day of Rural Women, the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas issued an urgent call to action, demanding States and corporations end the systemic discrimination, violence, and economic exclusion faced by rural women worldwide. Despite…
On 18 September 2025, on the occasion of the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, a parallel conference brought together actors committed to the protection of the rights of rural communities at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Entitled “Advancing the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas through…
Defending Peasants’ Rights conducted an exclusive interview with Carlos Duarte, current Chair of the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. 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…
