A new communication initiative has recently been launched in Colombia with the aim of bringing academic knowledge closer to the general public. It is a podcast series led by the Institute of Intercultural Studies and the Specialisation in Agrarian Jurisdiction at Universidad Javeriana in Cali, in partnership with the Observatory of Rural Lands. The initiative seeks to transform recent research into accessible and engaging content, expanding the reach of key debates on the rights of rural peoples.

On air for about a month, the project embraces clear language and multimedia formats to engage with peasant organisations, rural workers, Indigenous communities, pastoralists, and fisherpeople. The initiative publishes around two pieces of content per month, combining audio and written formats, making specialised knowledge more accessible to diverse audiences.

The topics addressed are rooted in the Colombian context but go beyond national borders. Episodes include reflections relevant to Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as global analyses, such as land concentration and its social, economic, and political implications. In this way, the podcast establishes itself as a space for the circulation of critical knowledge on contemporary agrarian issues.

Readers and interested audiences from different regions are invited to explore and follow this initiative. Episodes, available in Spanish and English, can be accessed at https://soundcloud.com/carlos-duarte-44 and https://www.observatoriodetierras.org/podcast/, while written publications are available at https://www.observatoriodetierras.org/publicaciones/. This is a valuable opportunity to engage with current debates in more inclusive and accessible formats.

We particularly highlight the latest episode, which examines the current state of discussions on governance, access, and inequality in access to land at the global level, broken down by analytical regions. Available in English and Spanish.

La entrada From Colombia to the World: A Podcast Bringing Peasant Rights Research to Wider Audiences se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

The key aspects of the right to participation for UNDROP’s rights holders are outlined in the informative handbook linked below, jointly developed by the Instituto de Estudios Interculturales (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Cali) and the Observatorio de Tierras, both based in Colombia.

La entrada Handbook on Rural Peoples’ Right to Participation se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

In this training sheet by CETIM, you will find a presentation of all the “economic, social and cultural” rights enshrined in UNDROP:

• Art. 5: Right to natural resources
• Art. 13: Right to work
• Art. 14: Right to a safe and healthy working conditions
• Art. 21: Right to water supply systems and sanitation facilities
• Art. 23: Right to health
• Art. 24: Right to housing
• Art. 25: Right to education and professional training
• Art. 26: Cultural rights and right to traditional knowledge

La entrada Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in UNDROP se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

In this training sheet by CETIM, you will find a presentation of all the “civil and political” rights enshrined in UNDROP :

• Article 3: Right to equality and non-discrimination
• Article 6: Right to life, liberty and security of person
• Article 7: Freedom of movement
• Article 8: Freedom of thought, opinion and expression
• Article 9: Freedom of association
• Article 11: Right to information
• Article 12: Right to justice

La entrada Civil and Political Rights in UNDROP se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

The video of the complete training is online!

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas (UNDROP) on 17 December 2018. Four years later, on 12 October 2023, the Human Rights Council created the UN Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas to promote UNDROP’s implementation. This Working Group of 5 independent experts started its work on 1st May 2024, for a first period of three years.

Fastenaktion and the Geneva Academy invite you under the RAISE Project to this online training.
This training aims to present this new mechanism, and to promote its use by rights holders and
their allies. We will discuss the UN working group’s creation and composition, mandate and
potential activities, and provides examples of the work of other UN human rights mechanisms.

Program

First Part (morning)

1. Introduction and moderation by Claudia Fuhrer, Fastenaktion and RAISE project
2. Christophe Golay, Senior Research Fellow, Geneva Academy of International
   Humanitarian Law and Human Rights: United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms and
   the UN Working Group on UNDROP
3. Geneviève Savigny, Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group: Challenges and
   Opportunities of the UN Working Group on UNDROP
4. Discussion with all participants

Second part (afternoon)

1. Work in groups on using the UN Working Group on UNDROP (1 hour, in geographic or
   other groups depending on the interests of the participants)
2. Restitution of the work in groups, and potential for collaboration across groups (1 hour)

NB: Please note that only participants who joined the morning session can attend the afternoon group work and plenary. The group work is based on the training of the morning.

REFERENCES IN RELATION TO THE UN WORKING GROUP ON UNDROP

• UNDROP
• Human Rights Council Resolution Creating the UN Working Group on UNDROP
• Website on the UN Working Group on UNDROP
• Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council
• CEDAW Committee General Recommendation 34 on the Rights of Rural Women
• CESCR Committee General Comment on Land and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• Website of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food
• Website Defending Peasants’ Rights
• Fact Sheet on the Promotion and Implementation of UNDROP
• UNDROP in the Work of United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms
• Geneva Academy Project and Publications on UNDROP
• Civil Society Engagement of Fastenaktion /RAISE on UNDROP (in German)
• La Via Campesina Introductory Booklet on UNDROP
• La Via Campesina Thematic Booklet 1 on Access to Resources and Means of Production
• La Via Campesina Thematic Booklet 2 on Peasant Rights and Food Production
• La Via Campesina Thematic Booklet 3 on Peasants’ Dignified Lives and Livelihoods
• La Via Campesina Thematic Booklet 4 on Peasants as Political Subjects
• CETIM Book on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants
• CETIM Training Sheets on Peasants’ Rights
• FIAN Peasants’ Rights Briefings
• Video “The UN Declaration on Peasants’ Rights (UNDROP) explained”
• Video of the webinar “The next chapter in the struggle for UNDROP: learning about the new UN Working Group”
• Videos of the webinar: The UNDROP Alive and Kicking, Peasants’ Rights in practice – A regional perspective
• Videos for Training on UNDROP

Supported by :

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Following the first two individual and self-training sessions, interactive sessions 3 and 4 are designed to give concrete form to the theoretical context that has been discussed previously. Session 3 will involve collective discussion of concrete cases of violations of peasants’ rights presented by the participants. In session 4, the discussions will focus on how rural organisations can work to put an end to violations, on the implementation of UNDROP and on the tools they can use. Existing and future promotion and implementation efforts and strategies will also be discussed.

Objectives of Session 3 Concrete cases of violations”: During this session, participants will present cases of violations of their rights in their countries/regions and collectively identify the rights that have been violated.

Methodology: Division into working groups (4-5 people maximum). After presenting the cases, the participants will discuss them collectively with the aim of identifying the rights in the Declaration affected by the violations in each case. After these presentations and discussions, they will return to the plenary to present the different cases and discuss them with everyone.

Guiding questions: What problems do you encounter in your daily life? What kind of violatations are you confronted to? Who committed these violations? How did it happen? What are you doing about it?

Objectives of Session 4 “Tools and Implementation“: Development of training, monitoring and advocacy tools to support activities and strategies at national, regional and international levels. Elaboration of an implementation action plan for countries/regions, developed by and for the participants and their respective organizations.

Methodology: Watch the videos and read the training sheets in order to start elaborating a strategy plan for the implementation of UNDROP in your context.

Training videos

• Aspects and general elements of an implementation process (Raffaele Morgantini, CETIM).
  

Training sheets

Training sheet on UNDROP implementation at the international level and on the UN Working Group on UNDROP

Cetim’s training sheet n°12 Strategies for implementation

Research brief of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights “The implementation of the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas”

Presentation of a fundamental tool for the promotion and implementation of the UNDROP:
The website “Defending Peasant Rights” (Coline Hubert, coordinator and editor of the website)

La entrada TRAINING ON THE UNDROP – SESSION 3 “CONCRETE CASES” AND 4 “TOOLS AND IMPLEMENTATION” se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

La Via Campesina and CETIM have organized a training course for La Via Campesina members in August 2023, and are now making training materials available to all. This material is also available in PDF version here.

Session 2 of the UNDROP training seminar aims to provide a general overview and analysis of the key rights of the UNDROP, those that form the backbone of the instrument. This does not mean that other rights are less important, but we have identified these “key rights” as being the most buoyant and, in a way, the most claimed: right to land and natural resources; right to food and food sovereignty; right of rural women; right to social security; right to seeds; right to the environment, water and biodiversity; right to participation; right to an adequate standard of living and means of production; economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights in the context of peasant activities.

Objective of Session 2 “Key rights”: To gain a practical understanding of the core content of the UNDROP and what these articles mean in practice for peasants in the field.

Methodology: Participants will follow a series of video training sessions on key UNDROP rights. They will also be asked to read some key documents relating to each right.

RIGHT TO FOOD SOVEREIGNTY (art.15)

• Read the definition established at the Nyeléni Forum in 2007
• Read article 15 of the UNDROP
• See video training on food sovereignty, by Elizabeth Mpofu (ZIMSOFF, Zimbabwe)

• See the video of La Via Campesina “What is food sovereignty”?

Compulsory training sheets to read:

• La Via Campesina’s Thematic Booklet “Peasants’ rights and food production”
• CETIM’s training sheet “The right to food and food sovereignty”

Complementary materials for further reading:

• FIAN International’s briefing “Right to Adequate Food and Nutrition, and to Food Sovereignty”
• Research brief from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights “The rights to food and to food sovereignty
• Report from Friends of the Earth International “The UN Declaration on the rights of peasants as a tool for promoting collective rights“

RIGHT TO LAND (art.17)

• Read article 17 of the UNDROP
• See video training on right to land, by Paola Gioia (ABL, Germany)

Compulsory training sheets to read:

• La Via Campesina’s Thematic Booklet “Access to resources and means of production” (see in particular pages 4-5-6)
• CETIM’s training sheet “The right to land and natural resources”

Complementary materials for further reading:

• FIAN International briefing “The right to land and other natural resources”
• Research brief on the right to land by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights “The right to land and other natural resources”
• CETIM’s book “Right to land”
• International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPCFS) “People’s Manual on the Guidelines on Governance of Land, Fisheries and Forests“

RIGHT TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING, A DECENT LIVELIHOOD AND THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION (art.16)

• Read article 16 of the UNDROP
• See video training on this right, by Diego Monton (MNCI Somos Tierra – UTRST, Argentina)

Compulsory training sheets to read:

• La Via Campesina’s Thematic Booklets “Access to resources and means of production” (see in particular pages 9-10) and “Peasants’ Dignified Lives and Livelihoods“
• CETIM’s training sheet “The right to an adequate standard of living, a decent livelihood and the means of production”

Complementary materials for further reading:

RIGHT TO SEEDS (art.19)

• Read article 19 of the UNDROP
• See video training on right to seeds, by Christophe Golay from the Geneva Academy (Switzerland)

Compulsory training sheets to read:

• La Via Campesina’s Thematic Booklet “Access to resources and means of production” (see in particular page 8)
• CETIM’s training sheet “The right to seeds”

Complementary materials for further reading:

• FIAN International briefing “The rights to seeds and biodiversity”
• Research brief on the right to land by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights “Right to seeds and intellectual property rights”
• Research brief on the right to land by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights “The right to seeds in Africa”
• Research brief on the right to land by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights “The right to seeds in Europe”

RIGHT TO PARTICIPATION (art.10)

• Read article 10 of the UNDROP
• See video training on right to participation, by Michelle Zufferey (UNITERRE, Switzerland)

Compulsory training sheets to read:Training sheets to read:

• La Via Campesina’s Thematic Booklet “Access to resources and means of production” (see in particular page 10)
• CETIM’s training sheet “The right to participation”

RIGHTS TO THE ENVIRONEMENT, BIODIVERSITY AND WATER (art. 18, 20 and 21)

• Read articles 18, 20 and 21 of the UNDROP
• See video training on right to participation, by Morgan Ody (Confédération paysanne, France)

Compulsory training sheets to read:

• La Via Campesina’s Thematic Booklet “Access to resources and means of production” (see in particular page 8)
• CETIM’s training sheet “The right to the environement”

Complementary materials for further reading:

• FIAN International briefing “Environmental and Climat Justice”
• FIAN International briefing “Rights to water and sanitation”

RIGHTS OF RURAL WOMEN (art. 4)

• Read article 4 of the UNDROP
• See video training on right to participation, by Chengeto Zumira (ZIMSOFF, Zimbabwe)

Compulsory training sheets to read:

• La Via Campesina’s Thematic Booklets “Peasants as political subjects” and “Peasants’ Dignified Lives and Livelihoods” (see in particular pages 6-7)
• CETIM’s training sheet “Non-discrimination against rural women“

Complementary materials for further reading:

• FIAN International’s briefing “Rural Women’s Rights“

RIGHT TO SOCIAL SECURITY (art. 22)

• Read article 22 of the UNDROP
• See video training on right to participation, by Pramesh Pokharel (All Nepal Peasants Federation, Nepal)

Compulsory training sheets to read:

• La Via Campesina’s Thematic Booklet “Peasants’ Dignified Lives and Livelihoods” (see in particular pages 2-3-4)
• CETIM’s training sheet “Right to social security“

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS (art. 5, 13, 14, 21, 23, 24, 25 and 26)

• Read articles 5, 13, 14, 21, 23, 24, 25 and 26 of the UNDROP
• See video training on economic, social and cultural rights, by Melik Özden (CETIM)

Compulsory training sheets to read:

• CETIM’s training sheet “Economic, social and cultural rights“

CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS (art. 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12)

• Read articles 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 of the UNDROP
• See video training on civil and political rights, by Melik Özden (CETIM) see above

Compulsory training sheets to read:

• La Via Campesina’s Thematic Booklet “Peasants as political subjects“
• CETIM’s training sheet “Civil and political rights“

La entrada TRAINING ON THE UNDROP – SESSION 2 “KEY RIGHTS OF THE UNDROP” se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

In December 2018, after 17 intense years of work and negotiations, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), which codifies and protects the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas. This declaration is a historic step towards the protection of the human rights of these populations, as they are the main victims of poverty, hunger and multiple human rights violations in the world. This situation is paradoxical since it is widely accepted that peasants, both in the Global North and the Global South, are key actors in the production of food, in the protection of biodiversity and in the fight against hunger and the global climate crisis.

Objective of session 1: To understand the historical context of UNDROP. It will also be an opportunity to learn about the UN system and the UN human rights mechanisms. How did peasants’ rights become an international issue? What has LVC and its allies learned?

Methodology: Participants will follow a series of video trainings on the history of UNDROP. Also, during this week of study, the organizers will provide a self-assessment questionnaire on these aspects and a space for questions.

FORMATION MATERIAL

• Read the preamble of the UNDROP
• See the video on the history of the UNDROP, by Henry Saragih (SPI, LVC Indonesia)

• See the video on the history of the UNDROP negotiation process by Natalia Pacheco (former diplomat in the Permanent Mission of the Plurinational State of Bolivia).

Compulsory training sheets to read:

• La Via Campesina’s introductory booklet: “United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People working in Rural Areas“
• CETIM’s training sheets “Introduction of the UNDROP“

Complementary materials for further reading:

• See the timeline of the history of the UNDROP in the website Defending Peasants’ Rights
• Read the first part of the book by Coline Hubert (CETIM) “The UNDROP. A tool in the Struggle for our Common Future” (free access to the PDF version here)
• Read the article on the Journal of Peasants Studies “The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People working in Rural Areas”, signed by Marc Edelman and Priscilla Clays

La entrada TRAINING ON THE UNDROP – SESSION 1 “HISTORY OF THE STRUGGLE FOR THE UNDROP AND LESSONS LEARNED” se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

You can find the poster in multiple formats (png, pdf, eps) HERE.

UNDROP as a poster

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This is the third of four thematic booklets—part of the popular education materials to be used as a crucial step in reconnecting those who inspired and created United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in the Rural Areas (UNDROP). The booklet focus on how are dignified lives and livelihoods protected by UNDROP, and what are the obligations of our states, and gives examples of selected experiences by peasants from different countries. It therefore outlines the UNDROP articles that most closely relate to the peasant struggle against discrimination and towards dignified lives and livelihoods in the context of food sovereignty. These include the right to development, the right to adequate living conditions, the right to water, the right to social security, and the right to physical and mental health, among others.

The ongoing struggle against capitalism, imperialism, and colonialism threatens the dignity of peasants and other people working in rural areas. In today’s globalized world, we fight together against corrupt, right-wing governments, capitalist agribusiness and the corporate food system, and all heteropatriarchal systems of oppression.

To live a dignified life means to be valued, respected, and treated ethically no matter your age, ethnicity, gender, physical and/ or mental ability, or socioeconomic status. To protect dignity and life is a key organizing principle of food sovereignty, and was a key reason for developing the UNDROP. UNDROP elaborates on all the rights peasants require in order to live with dignity.

La entrada Thematic Booklet No. 3: “Peasants’ Dignified Lives and Livelihoods” se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

This note was written as inputs for the negotiations of the UNDROP and published before its adoption in December 2018. Nonetheless, it is still very pertinent to this day, firstly because it discuss a version of the UNDROP very closed to the final one. Then, because its subject – collective rights – was one of the most discussed during the negotiations and is still invoked to criticize the UNDROP. Collective rights were a cornerstone demand of the peasants and workers all along the negotiations, it’s a victory to have them recognize in the Declaration. This note participate to their dissemination, defense and implementation.

Peasants, indigenous people, fisherfolk and nomads have long claimed that recognizing human rights exclusively as individual rights disregards the essential role that community relationships play in the management and use of communal resources, the protection of community members’ rights, as well as the preservation of the individual’s subjectivity and identity.

Fian international

This set of documents addresses the following issues: States’ obligations, the right to sovereignty over natural resources, development and food sovereignty, the right to land and other natural resources, the right to seeds and biological diversity, the rights of rural women, access to justice, the right to a decent income and livelihood, and the right to water.

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This manual was published by the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty in 2016. You can find it here.

The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security were officially endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on May 11, 2012. Almost 10 years after their adoption, it is still relevant to use them to strengthen the rights of peasants contained in the UNDROP. The guidelines can be used by peasant, fisheries and pastoralist organizations, indigenous peoples, landless people, women and youth, and civil society as a whole, to assert their rights.

This People’s Manual is a pedagogical and didactic guide, which aims to make it easier to understand the Guidelines and to provide a practical approach to people on how to use them in their struggles. It highlights the parts that offer answers to their needs and provides advice on mechanisms, strategies and actions that can be adopted to generate dialogue and to defend human rights and social justice in the processes, institutions and activities of governance of natural resources.

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