Training: The UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas
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Training: The UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas

Online training open to everyone! Thursday August 29th, 2024 – 10-12AM and 1-3PM (CET) Translations in English, French and Spanish Zoom Link 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…

UNDROP in the Work of United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms
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UNDROP in the Work of United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms

Since its adoption in 2018, UNDROP has been included in the work of some United Nations human rights mechanisms. We present how this has been done in this contribution, in which we also present the new Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas created by the Human Rights…

Defending Peasants’ Rights – Newsletter n°5 
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Defending Peasants’ Rights – Newsletter n°5 

The webinar video is now available! We are delighted to announce that the video of our webinar on the UN Working Group on UNDROP is now online. We were thrilled to have three of the Working Group’s experts with us: Shalmali Guttal, Carlos Duarte and Geneviève Savigny. The experts had the opportunity to explain their…

Kenyan Farmers Challenge the Constitutionality of Seed Law
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Kenyan Farmers Challenge the Constitutionality of Seed Law

In 2022, fifteen farmers from different regions of Kenya filled a lawsuit against the Seeds and Plant Varieties Act. This law prohibits and even criminalizes the sale and exchange of peasants seeds by the farmers that have developed them. The claim of the fifteen farmers is based on the Constitution of Kenya. As you will…

“UNDROP from local to global!” – Interview with Serge Peereboom from MAP Belgium
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“UNDROP from local to global!” – Interview with Serge Peereboom from MAP Belgium

Serge Peereboom describes himself as a “city child who moved to the countryside to become a peasant market gardener. A peasant resisting in a world that moves too fast and forgets the true values of life”. He is a member of the Mouvement d’Action Paysanne (MAP) in Belgium, and played an active role in drafting…

Video of our webinar “The next chapter in the struggle for UNDROP: learning about the new UN Working Group”
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Video of our webinar “The next chapter in the struggle for UNDROP: learning about the new UN Working Group”

For the International Day of Peasant’s Struggles on April 17, Defending Peasants’ Rights and La Via Campesina held a webinar on the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on UNDROP, with three of its experts: Shalmali Guttal, Carlos Duarte and Geneviève Savigny. The UNDROP Working Group was created by a resolution of the Human Rights…

MAP Belgium’s Peasant Towns Charter: an example of using UNDROP at local level
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MAP Belgium’s Peasant Towns Charter: an example of using UNDROP at local level

The Mouvement Action Paysanne (MAP) is a Belgian association of peasants and citizens who have set up an “ Independent Peasant School ” (ASBL EPI) to pass on peasant knowledge and know-how. MAP and EPI are committed to public recognition of the existence, content and specific nature of peasant agriculture and the peasant profession. On…

Agroecology for food sovereignty
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Agroecology for food sovereignty

Which agroecology for peasants’ and rural workers’ rights – Introduction by Defending Peasants’ Rights We are reproducing a publication by Friends of the Earth International which aims to define an agroecology for food sovereignty. Agroecology, food sovereignty and peasants’ rights are closely linked. Together, they form a political and practical basis for both fighting the…

Empowering Rural Communities Through UNDROP – the actions of ESAFF-Uganda
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Empowering Rural Communities Through UNDROP – the actions of ESAFF-Uganda

We are presenting here the work of the peasants organization ESAFF (Eastern and Southern Africa Small-Scale Farmers Forum) Uganda on the UNDROP. ESAFF-Uganda is a member organization of La Via Campesina. Call to domesticate UNDROP ESAFF-Uganda has been commited to the promotion and implementation of UNDROP for many years. Right after the adoption of the…

Fact sheet on the UN Working Group on UNDROP
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Fact sheet on the UN Working Group on UNDROP

At the occasion of the election of the experts for the UN Working Group on UNDROP, Fian International, Cetim and La Via Campesina published a new fact sheet on the Working Group. The document explains why it was so impertive to have a Working Group installed. It also details what are the prerogatives of the…