Handbook on Rural Peoples’ Right to Participation

In October 2025, the UN Working Group on UNDROP released a comprehensive report on rural peoples’ right to participation. Far beyond being a mere procedural formality, the right to participation enshrined in the UNDROP declaration represents a fundamental pillar of democratic governance and human dignity. It enables the diverse social and ethnic constituencies of rural peoples to shape their public life and to play an active and meaningful role in the decision-making processes that affect their lives, territories, and environment.

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.