The webinar was honoured by the distinguished presence of Ms. Shalmali Guttal, member of the UN Working Group on the UNDROP, who provided not only an overview but also an interpretation of the Working Group’s understanding of Article 1 of the declaration, which defines its rights holders.

Moreover, a plurality of rural constituencies – represented through their global movements/organizations – participated in the rights holders’ panel, bringing their struggles into perspective in relation to our shared efforts to implement the rural peoples’ rights enshrined in the UNDROP at both international and national levels. The following movements and organisations provided valuable inputs in this important meeting of UNDROP’s rights holders:

• World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous People (WAMIP)
• International Federation of Rural Adult Catholic Movements (FIMARC)
• World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP)
• International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF)
• Rural Women Assembly (RWA)
• La Via Campesina (LVC)
• Sea Nomads Contact Group

Webinar Structure [with video timings]:

Introduction [Beginning – 15m16s] : Defending Peasants Rights and FIAN International

Understanding UNDROP’s Article 1 [15m16s – 30m06s] : Ms. Shalmali Guttal – UN Working Group on the UNDROP

Roundtable of UNDROP’s right holders [30m06s – 01h42m] : Moderation by CETIM; Speakers: Fernando García-Dory – WAMIP; Modesta Arevalo – FIMARC; Jones Thomas – WFFP; Sue Longley – IUF; Norah Mlondobozi – RWA; David Otieno – LVC; Henri Simarmata – Sea Nomads Contact Group

Final remarks [01h42m – End] : Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

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The aim of this article is to present the different rural constituencies included in the scope of the Declaration, as well as the main organizations mobilized in their support.

In addition to peasants, Article 1(a) of the UNDROP includes other rural workers such as livestock farmers, pastoralists, fishers, hunter-gatherers, artisans linked to agriculture, indigenous peoples, transhumant and nomadic communities, wage workers, and migrant workers (regardless of their legal status).

During the sessions of the Intergovernmental Working Group tasked with drafting the Declaration, fishers were represented by the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP), which represents artisanal fishing communities, defends their rights, and promotes fishing practices that respect natural resources and care for future generations. The WFFP was founded in response to the increasing pressure on small-scale fishing communities, including habitat destruction, tourism, pollution, invasion of their territories by large fishing fleets, illegal fishing, bottom trawling, mangrove destruction, industrial aquaculture, nuclear waste and dumping garbage and overfishing. WFFP member organizations engage in the facilitation of the ratification of C-188 Safety at Sea Convention which attempts to ensure social welfare schemes and protection of coastal communities.

Agricultural workers were represented by the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF). The IUF unites workers across the entire food production chains and fights for workers’ rights and democracies. The IUF has contributed to the development of international labour standards in the International Labour Organization (ILO). It has also raised the issue of child labor, which has been addressed and included in relevant regulatory processes. IUF’s involvement also facilitated long-term support from the ILO for the negotiation process of the UNDROP, as well as the inclusion of key provisions on workers’ rights in the instrument. In 2023, the IUF contributed to the development of the ILO Policy guidelines for the promotion of decent work in the agri-food sector.

Nomadic pastoralists were represented by the World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous Peoples (WAMIP), which supports and strengthens mobile indigenous peoples in maintaining their way of life, livelihoods, and cultural identity. WAMIP advocates for the sustainable management of common resources and the respect of the rights of nomadic communities. The interventions of pastoral and nomadic communities during the negotiation of the UNDROP were crucial in demonstrating the importance of the collective dimension of natural resources (watercourses, pastures, etc.).

The International Federation of Rural Adult Catholic Movements (FIMARC) also participated. FIMARC promotes solidarity among rural populations and peasants, serving as their voice within the United Nations. The main focus of their work is food sovereignty, a key concept in light of FIMARC’s goal of improving the living conditions of farming communities and ensuring a dignified life for all.

All these organizations shared the conviction that a Declaration was necessary to counter the constant violations of the rights of people working in rural areas, violations often committed for the benefit of private interests. They contributed to the drafting of the Declaration and emphasized the clear need for such an instrument, not only to ensure the survival of rural areas, but also to guide legal and political efforts toward socioeconomic and environmental justice in rural territories, as well as fairer and truly sustainable food systems. The involvement of all these organizations has strengthened the solidarity of rural populations and the shared destiny they hold. Similarly, the convergence of struggles among rural movements will be key to the future of the promotion and implementation of the UNDROP.

La entrada When rural communities claim their rights! The rights-holders of the UNDROP se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

La entrada What is a peasant? What are peasantries? se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

After adopting the Declaration, we are now in a new phase: implementation. It is absolutely vital to bring the Declaration to life so that peasants and other people working in rural areas can make the content their own, to use it in their daily advocacy work. For this reason, CETIM, alongside La Via Campesina, organizes seminars aimed at peasant leaders. These courses allow them to consolidate their practices, advocacy strategies and other projects linked to the Declaration. Through this type of training, we are striving for a multiplier effect. Once the leaders have been trained, they disseminate their knowledge to their members, to other peasants and allies. The aim in the long term is for everyone to have access to this crucial knowledge.

Training sheets

The twelve fact sheets have been produced in a spirit of popularisation of the content and scope of the rights contained in the Declaration. Produced in several languages in an A5 format, the sheets explain in an accessible way one or a series of rights of the Declaration grouped by theme:

1. Introduction of the UNDROP
2. Right to land
3. Right to seeds
4. Right to food and food sovereignty
5. Right to an adequate standard of living, a decent livelihood and to means of production
6. Non-discrimination against rural women
7. Right to participation
8. Right to the environment
9. Right to social security
10. Economic, social and cultural rights
11. Civil and political rights
12. Strategies for implementation

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It is crucial to reconnect the UNDROP to the small-scale food producers worldwide – the same people who inspired its content, who worked on its development and whose Rights to dignified lives and livelihoods continues to be violated. This training toolkit will help us to effectively use the UNDROP in our struggles to assert and advance our collective and individual rights. The purpose of this toolkit is to create broader awareness, promote deeper understanding and enhance capacities (through training) of rural people’s movements. We should use this booklet as a foundational tool to ensure that the UNDROP will be respected, implemented and promoted at all levels, from local to international, from community customs to policymaking mechanisms. 

This popular education toolkit is context-based and will empower peasants to improve their livelihoods in rural areas. It will reinforce food sovereignty and agroecology, strengthen the fight against climate change. It recognizes peasants’ rights to conserve, use, exchange and sell their seeds. It defends people’s right to protect blatant attempts to grab land, rivers and oceans. In short, using this toolkit will bring UNDROP to life, turning it into an effective tool for our struggles.

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