Determining Fisher Peoples Sovereignty: Reclaiming Panama for Indigenous Fishers and Our Victories for Customary Governance
12 December – Online
3:00 PM CET / 7:30 PM IST / 8:00 AM Belize
Organised by WFFP and Focus on the Global South
Statement of the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas on the Occasion of COP30, Belem, Brazil
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…
Ecuador postpones visit by UN Working Group on peasants’ rights
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…
Land conflict in times of global change and fragility
25 & 27 November and 9 December 2025
13-15h CET
English, Spanish, French, Portuguese
HEKS/EPER Land Forum 2025
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…
The right to participation – The 3rd Report of the UN Working Group on UNDROP
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…
Nyeleni Newsletter n°61 – Rooted in resistance: territories for climate justice
Defending Peasants’ Rights is pleased to share the Nyeleni Newsletter No. 61, which explores how the realisation of rural peoples’ rights, as enshrined in the UNDROP, is deeply connected to the advancement of collective struggles for climate justice across the world. As social movements mobilize toward Climate COP 30 and the Second International Conference on…
UN experts urge binding accountability for agribusiness to safeguard peasants’ rights and global food security
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…
UN Working Group on UNDROP Demands Urgent Action to Uphold Rights of Rural Women
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…
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Side event at the UN: Challenges and best practices in promoting the rights of peasants and rural workers in Latin America
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…
When Civil Society Plants the Seeds of Normative Change: the Role of Non-state Actors in the Adoption of UNDROP
Image: La Via Campesina Article first published in July 2025 by the Padova University Press. In this academic article, Alexandre Mortelette examines how civil society actors, primarily La Vía Campesina, CETIM and FIAN International, contributed to the co-construction of UNDROP by translating grassroots demands into international legal standards through an inclusive, participatory, and iterative process.
Exclusive interview with Carlos Duarte, Chair of the UN Working Group on UNDROP.
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…