Held in the context of the UN Working Group’s latest report, which focuses specifically on rural peoples’ right to participation, the discussion explored how this right—far from being a procedural formality—constitutes a cornerstone of democratic governance and a central pillar of rural peoples’ civil and political rights. The webinar created a space for exchange between grassroots actors and international human rights mechanisms, strengthening bridges between local struggles and global advocacy.

The webinar placed the findings of the UN Working Group’s report at the centre of the discussion, examining:

• The democratic and political significance of participation under UNDROP
• Barriers that prevent rural communities from influencing public decision-making
• The Working Group’s recommendations to States
• Practical strategies and good practices that enhance meaningful participation
• The role of collective advocacy and solidarity in advancing implementation

Panellists:

• Carlos Duarte, Current Chair of the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas
• Loupa Pius, World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous People (WAMIP)
• Modesta Arevalos Ortiz, International Federation of Rural Adult Catholic Movements (FIMARC)
• Jones Spartegus, World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP)
• Norah Mlondobozi, Rural Women Assembly (RWA)
• Saúl Vicente, Unidad de la Fuerza Indígena y Campesina (UFIC – Mexico)
• Paula Gioia, La Via Campesina (LVC)

Through their interventions, the panellists shared regional experiences, community perspectives, and movement strategies for strengthening participation at local, national and international levels.

We invite you to watch the recording and engage with this important dialogue as part of the broader collective effort to ensure that those who feed the world and protect its ecosystems are fully included in shaping the policies and decisions that determine their future.

Webinar held on 10 December 2025.

La entrada Video of our Webinar | Nothing About Us Without Us – Realising the Right to Participation of Rural Peoples and Workers through UNDROP se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

Paris, Geneva, January 15, 2026 – The Confédération paysanne and CETIM filed today an official complaint with several Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council, following the arrest and detention of 52 peasants, members of the Confédération paysanne, during a protest in Paris yesterday, January 14, 2026.

During this mobilization, approximately 150 peasants went to the Ministry of Agriculture in Paris. The action was peaceful: the demonstrators entered on foot the hall of the Directorate General for Economic and Environmental Performance of Enterprises (DGPE), displayed banners, and occupied the premises to make their demands heard.

The demonstration was organized to urge the authorities to address the management of the contagious nodular dermatitis (CND) crisis, the threats linked to the EU-Mercosur agreement, and, more broadly, to denounce agricultural policies that are structurally unfavorable to peasants and family farmers. Despite the absence of violence, law enforcement carried out a large-scale encirclement and arrests, targeting in particular national and international union leaders.

The report submitted to the United Nations documents serious violations of fundamental freedoms, in particular the freedoms of association and peaceful assembly, freedom of opinion and expression, trade union rights, as well as the specific rights of peasants as enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP).

Through this appeal, the Confédération paysanne and CETIM are calling on UN mechanisms to urgently intervene with the competent authorities to ensure that France respects its international obligations, ends the criminalization of peasants’ mobilizations, and guarantees the effective exercise of peasants’ rights.

Read also the press release from the Confédération paysanne:
https://www.confederationpaysanne.fr/actu.php?id=16339

Contacts :
Confédération paysanne – Emilie Deligny, Secretary general,+33 6 36 58 17 26, edeligny@confederationpaysanne.fr

CETIM – Raffaele Morgantini, Representative of CETIM to the UN in Geneva+41 79 660 65 14, raffaele@cetim.ch

La entrada 52 peasants arrested in France: Confédération paysanne and CETIM appeal to UN Mechanisms se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

Background

Seeds are foundational to food systems, biodiversity, culture and rural livelihoods. They constitute the starting point of food production and are central to the ways in which peasants and Indigenous Peoples have developed, preserved and transmitted agricultural knowledge adapted to diverse ecological conditions across generations.

Seeds play a critical role in maintaining agricultural biodiversity, as they embody the genetic diversity necessary to enhance resilience to pests, diseases, environmental degradation and climate variability. Beyond their biological function, seeds are also closely linked to cultural heritage, social relations and, in some contexts, spiritual and ceremonial practices.

For peasants and other people working in rural areas globally, including Indigenous Peoples, pastoralists, fishers and forest peoples, seeds are inseparable from livelihoods and autonomy. The ability to cultivate, harvest, save, exchange and improve seeds underpins food security, income generation, self-determination and the sustainability of rural communities. Peasant seed systems have historically sustained a wide diversity of crops and plant varieties adapted to local ecosystems and climatic conditions, contributing to food sovereignty, nutrition and resilience.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) explicitly recognizes the right to seeds (article 19), including the right of peasants to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seeds and propagating material. The realization of this right is closely interconnected with other rights recognized in UNDROP, including the right to food and food sovereignty (article 15), the rights to land and other natural resources (article 17), rights related to biodiversity (article 20), the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (article 24), and the right to participation in decision-making processes affecting peasants’ lives (article 10). In the same manner, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ rights to maintain, control, protect and develop their traditional knowledge, innovations and cultural heritage, including genetic resources and seeds (article 31), in connection with their rights to lands, territories and resources, self-determination and development.

International environmental and agricultural frameworks reinforce the protection of peasant seed systems. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) affirms the importance of conserving biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, and equitable benefit-sharing from genetic resources, while recognizing the traditional knowledge and practices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) recognizes farmers’ vital role in conserving and improving plant genetic resources and affirms Farmers’ Rights, including protection of traditional knowledge, equitable benefit-sharing, and participation in decision-making on plant genetic resources.

Despite these normative frameworks, seed systems worldwide are increasingly shaped by legal, economic and technological developments, which in some contexts, may undermine peasant seed systems. These may include restrictive seed laws and certification regimes, intellectual property protections, trade and investment agreements, corporate concentration in the seed sector, and the digitalization of genetic resources. Such developments have raised concerns regarding the marginalization of traditional practices, erosion of seed diversity, misappropriation of traditional knowledge and persistent inequalities, including gender-based and structural discrimination.

In line with its mandate to promote and monitor the implementation of UNDROP, the Working Group on peasants is preparing a thematic report to clarify the content and scope of the right to seeds, assess challenges and good practices in its implementation, and formulate recommendations to States and other actors to ensure that seed governance frameworks are consistent with human rights, biodiversity conservation and food sovereignty.

The Working Group encourages submissions from States, international and regional organizations, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, peasant movements, Indigenous Peoples, academics, private sector actors, and other relevant stakeholders. Submissions from right-holders and their representative organizations are particularly encouraged.

Key questions and types of input/comments sought

Seeds in Context: Significance and Practice

1. What is the social, cultural, economic and environmental significance of seeds in your local, national or regional context, including their contribution to food security, livelihoods and environmental sustainability?

2. What practices exist in your country and/or community for cultivating, harvesting, saving, exchanging, sharing and improving seeds?

3. How are roles and responsibilities related to seeds distributed within communities or societies, including among women, men, youth, Indigenous Peoples and other groups?

National and International Frameworks

4. What national laws, regulations or policies govern the saving, use, exchange and sale of peasant seeds, including measures for their protection? How effective are these frameworks in recognizing and upholding the right to seeds and in supporting the conservation of native and traditional seeds?

5. How do national legal and policy frameworks address the interests of peasants and rural communities in relation to those of commercial seed actors?

6. How have international instruments related to peasants’ rights, seeds and biodiversity, including UNDROP, UNDRIP, the CBD and the ITPGRFA, been reflected in national laws and policies, and what concrete impacts or benefits have they had for peasant and rural communities?

Challenges, Responses and Good Practices

7. What are the main challenges or threats faced in exercising the right to seeds, and how have communities, organizations or authorities responded to them?

8. What national, regional or international mechanisms have been used to promote or defend the right to seeds, and what has been their effectiveness?

9. What gaps remain in the protection and support of the right to seeds? Please share examples of laws, policies, practices or community-led initiatives that could be strengthened, replicated or scaled up.

Next Steps

Input/comments may be sent by e-mail. They must be received by 19 February 2026 .

Inputs should include the contributor’s name, organization (if applicable) and contact details for follow-up.

Additional supporting materials, such as reports, academic studies or background documents, may be included as annexes or provided through web links.

Unless otherwise specified by those making a submission, submissions will be made public on the Working Group’s website.

Email address: hrc-wg-peasants@un.org

Email subject line: Input for HRC Report on Seeds

Word/Page limit:
1000 words

Accepted file formats:
Word, PDF

Accepted Languages:
English, French, Spanish

La entrada Call for Inputs: Report of the UNDROP Working Group on the Right to Seeds se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

1: What is the Rural Women’s Assembly and what are your key areas of work?

The Rural Women Assembly is a network of movements of peasants, fisher folks, farm workers, migrant and landless women, all living and working in the rural areas in the Southern Africa region. We are in 11 countries, with a membership of close to 200,000 members. So it’s a very unique movement of rural women in the region.

Essentially, the Rural Women Assembly builds the voice of rural women and builds agency in relation to questions of access to land and water; the right to food; the right to seeds; and of course, we deal with patriarchal issues that affect women particularly in rural areas. Also central to our work is the issue of climate justice, which has a substantial impact on the region, largely due to the many cyclones that strike it repeatedly, as well as other climate-related crises.

Furthermore, we deal with cases of gender-based violence. In this regard, we develop study cycles in different countries, which are spaces that allow us to discuss on issues related to violence against women.

We are also the guardians of our seeds, because we believe that seeds are our lives, our heritage, our identity, which we don’t want to lose. We have a situation where the transnational corporations, the seed companies, want us to do away with our seeds, which we have inherited for generations and generations – and we’re resisting against that.

2: Why are you here in Geneva this week? What are your expectations?

We are here in Geneva for the 11th session of negotiation on a legally binding treaty to regulate transnational corporations (TNCs). We are here because our communities are experiencing violence from transnational corporations every day. The people in the communities are being grabbed off their land, where we do farming as women. We also have issues of climate crisis, as already said. These companies should pay for the pollution, the damages and the losses that we’re experiencing each and every year. It’s drought, it’s floods… So that is why we are here, so that we can contribute to the elaboration of a binding treaty to hold these companies accountable. Our goal is for the treaty to be out so that we are able to prevent these catastrophes.

We are here to have our voices heard, because when we’re in our countries we can issue statements, but they don’t reach the United Nations. So we are here in multiple movements and communities, and a collective voice from different countries can carry weight.

We are here as part of the Global Campaign to Reclaim Peoples’ Sovereignty, Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity – a powerful coalition of social movements, progressive organisations and communities affected by transnational corporations – to raise the issues of the rural women in the Global South. Being here is critical for us and it’s part of our advocacy strategy as Rural Women’s Assembly. We want to invest and participate in different platforms to advocate locally, nationally, and internationally, and use these global policy-making spaces or even UN instruments to really amplify our voice.

3: How does the struggle for a strong binding treaty to regulate transnational corporations relate to the protection and implementation of peasants’ rights as outlined in the UNDROP declaration?

There is a strong connection. I was very pleased to hear about the inclusion, in Article 15.7 of the draft text of the binding treaty, of a provision on the rights of peasants and rural peoples, which received strong support from almost all countries, particularly from Colombia and Palestine. It speaks to the UNDROP that the rights of the peasants are included in this treaty. This instrument will help us to push forward the agenda of ours, which is pushing for the implementation of UNDROP in our countries. Whilst our countries, for example, South Africa, signed the declaration in 2018, we still don’t have a policy that implements UNDROP. Having this binding treaty in place will strengthen our advocacy and work back home to ensure that we hold our governments to account to implement both instruments. So, these two legal frameworks are going to be key vehicles for us to utilize in our advocacy strategies.

It is necessary to note that the violations committed by transnational corporations directly affect the very rights granted to us by UNDROP. In particular, the right to seeds, the right to land, and the right to water. Once this treaty is adopted, we will have a binding instrument to which we can refer in order to defend ourselves.

4: How do TNCs activities impact your communities?

Firstly, TNCs want to take away our seeds and impose their own industrial seeds.. These enterprises pollute our water, causing a lot of diseases. The pollution affects not only people, but also animals and crops. As a result, we suffer from illnesses we don’t even recognise – sometimes even our own countries tell us they don’t know how to treat them. These are the impacts we are facing as a result of what TNCs are doing in our communities.

Seed sovereignty is no longer a right. Seeds have been commodified by transnational corporations. They have become a source of capital accumulation at the detriment of the rural poor. Our governments ignore that our seeds are resistant when it comes to the effects of climate change. Our seeds can be planted several times. When you buy hybrid seeds, they only last for a year. If you try to plant those seeds afterwards, they won’t germinate. Our seeds, on the other hand, are resistant – we can plant them for many years. Hence, we have food security at home and in the community. Our seeds are perfect. They are not harmful. They have healing properties and a lot of nutrients. You can cook the food coming from them in different ways. Sometimes they say there’s hunger in Zambia. It’s because they are following the corporate world’s thinking. If we could think like the rural women are thinking, there would be a lot of food in Zambia. There shouldn’t be even hunger in there. So, this treaty will also help us protect our seeds and our lives.

Hybrid seeds are expensive compared to our own kept seeds because they require fertilizers and chemicals. If you plant hybrids without any fertilizer, you get nothing. So, we are also trying to promote our own indigenous seeds, despite the threats we face from our governments. With the support of our governments, TNCs steal our seeds, make them hybrid, and make us pay the price for them. We have the right to say no to what they want to offer us.

Furthermore, they’re polluting the environment and they’re telling us we shouldn’t cut our trees so that the trees can clean up the carbon. They are interested in developing the carbon credit markets. They come into our areas, they grab big portions of land. They say, we shouldn’t even go and pick the mushrooms in there; we shouldn’t go pick the caterpillars in there. They put guards, so that we can’t go get the firewood. So, we have our own land, but we don’t have control of our own land. It’s very intimidating. They sell carbon with a lot of money, but we don’t get to get anything from there.

They grab land also because they want to do their mining, meanwhile we are displaced from a land where we’ve lived for so many years. They even damage the graves that are on the land. That is very de-humansing. There’s a lot of impunity in what they’re doing.

These TNCs have destroyed our land with pollution. You have a field that you cannot use for the next 10 years because it has been damaged with unknown toxic minerals that have passed through the area. In the Zambian Copperbelt province, which is near where we stay, TNCs polluted the Kafue River, which runs across the whole country. We can’t access the water in three quarters of the land through which the Kafue River passes. We can’t eat any fish from there.

In South Africa, fisher folks have taken up our government – particularly our Department of Mineral Resource and Energy – for blasting on the oceans, for working and collaborating with the Shell company, which was looking for oil in the ocean in the eastern part of South Africa. We have a similar case in terms of Titanium that has been going on for a long time also in the eastern part of South Africa, in Mbizana, where the communities are standing up and saying, ‘we have the right to say no’.The principle of free, prior and informed consent of the concerned communities should be respected. This has been a long process of litigation and these transnational corporations must be held accountable. They need to pay. We need reparations. Through the process of resisting, lives were lost, defenders have been killed and many are being threatened as we speak.

5: How have you been mobilising the UNDROP declaration in Southern Africa in favour of rural women’s rights?

Firstly, we made sure that our members understand what this declaration stands for and therefore what are the rights that are contained in it. We went through a strong move of capacitating, educating and building awareness amongst our members on their rights and how to engage to defend them. It is a declaration adopted by the United Nations that every country must implement, so it was critical for us to make sure our communities understood their rights. Each country has an advocacy strategy, they amplify the UNDROP in their communities. We have a booklet which is featured on our website, and we carry it everywhere. In every opportunity we have in engaging the duty bearers or government officials, we use this as a tool to engage and empower communities.

For example, in South Africa, we have been running a campaign called “One Woman, One Hectare of Land”, to provide more land for women. We combine that campaign with the UNDROP, especially the right to land, the right to food sovereignty, the right to use our seeds.

As rural women across different countries, we hold food and seed festivals every year. We do that to identify what seeds were lost, what we still have, how we can make better use of each seed. We now want to make seed banks and demo fields where we can be planting these seeds, so that we can multiply them. We also develop seed sharing initiatives. We work to increase our seed stocks so that, as we resist transnational corporations, we also show the strength of what we have.

In Swaziland, for instance, we are engaging government officials in the implementation of UNDROP. We have engaged with several ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture, but concrete results are yet to come as they have not yet prioritised the issue. We also started with translating the UNDROP to the local languages so that it is accessible to our people, to the women.

6: What is your message for Southern African states regarding their engagement in the Binding Treaty process?

What is critical in this podium is to hear the voices of the Global South, especially our African governments. We want them to stop corporate impunity. The should take action for our people, for our communities, for the poor, for our nations. In South Africa, for example, we have a great human rights constitution. South Africa has signed declarations, and has been historically committed to the UNDROP. Therefore, we demand that our voices are heard and that these instruments are implemented.

We wish more African countries were actively engaging in this Binding Treaty negotiation process. The governments should step in, find markets for our indigenous foods and promote them, and help the peasants. If we don’t have maize, there’s sorghum, there’s different types of beans, there’s cassava. We can make a meal from that. So they should put the lives of their people first rather than protecting these so-called investors that are coming into our countries just to plunder. They extract the minerals, take them away, and when they return, we are forced to buy our own resources back at a very high price.

If corporations are coming as investors in our countries, let them build schools, roads, hospitals. The government should stand up and fight for us. Stop looking at the profits, and look at the lives of our people!

La entrada Corporate impunity and seed sovereignty: Interview with the Rural Womens’ Assembly (RWA) se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

The Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas has issued a briefing paper on peasants’ right to seed, in connection with the Eleventh Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), held from 24 to 29 November 2025 in Lima, Peru.

It provides an overview of key issues on the agenda, including Farmers’ Rights under Article 9 of the Treaty, the functioning of the Multilateral System, digital sequence information, and benefit-sharing arrangements. ​

The paper shows how peasants’ and Indigenous Peoples’ seed systems relate to binding human rights obligations recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), with particular attention to the right to seeds in Article 19.

It summarizes the Working Group’s main recommendations to GB‑11, such as recognizing the collective nature of peasants’ rights, reviewing national seed and intellectual property laws, addressing digital biopiracy, establishing a standing committee on Farmers’ Rights, and reframing benefit-sharing so that it strengthens community-led seed systems and agrobiodiversity conservation.

La entrada Peasants’ right to seed – Briefing paper by the Working Group on peasants and other people working in rural areas se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

Geneva, 10 November 2025

Peasants and Rural Workers Rights at the Heart of Climate Justice
As world leaders and civil society gather for the 30th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30), the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas¹ calls for a clear change in global climate policy. Peasants, Indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, pastoralists and rural workers must no longer be seen only as victims of the climate crisis but as essential leaders in restoring ecosystems, feeding communities, and building social and economic justice.

Around 2 billion peasants, Indigenous peoples and producers grow more than 70 percent of the food eaten in low- and middle-income countries. They also protect much of the world’s biodiversity, keep traditional seeds and breeds alive, and maintain ecosystems and landscapes that sustain rural life and economies. Yet they receive less than one percent of global climate finance and are often excluded from key decisions about the future of food and climate. This imbalance must end.

1. Align Climate Action with Human Rights
The Paris Agreement and human rights aim to achieve the same goals. Governments cannot achieve real climate progress while ignoring their duty to protect the rights of those who feed the world.

States should include principles contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP)—especially the rights to land, seeds, water, biodiversity, and participation—in their national climate plans and adaptation strategies. Climate policies that overlook these rights risk increasing poverty, displacement, and hunger.

2. Direct Climate Finance to Peasant-Led Solutions
Most climate finance still supports large agribusinesses, export-oriented projects and market mechanisms that enable the causes and drivers of climate change, instead of supporting the capacities of those at the frontlines of impacts and innovative actions to tackle climate change. The Working Group calls for special funding channels within climate funds to directly support UNDROP’s rightsholders, including peasants, small-scale farmers, pastoralists, fishers, rural workers, Indigenous Peoples and rural women. These funds should provide grants, not loans, with simple rules and community-based oversight so that money reaches those who need it directly and in a timely fashion.

Special care must be taken not to doubly penalize the Global South by forcing States to take loans to cope with harms resulting from climate change that was predominantly driven by emissions from wealthy States. Financing for mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage should be seen as a form of reparations by those who have benefited from the extractive operations that drive the climate crisis.

Investments should focus on agroecology, diverse farming, fishing and herding systems, soil, water and biodiversity regeneration, and other local methods that cut emissions and protect nature. Rural women peasants—who carry much of the work and responsibility for food security—need targeted support and recognition.

3. Share Technology Fairly and Respect Knowledge
For adaptation to be effective, technology must serve communities, not control them. Governments must uphold their UNDROP commitments by facilitating international cooperation leading to the sharing of science and technology, along with building local capacity.

States and organizations should promote open-source and community-owned tools. The right to save, share, and develop traditional seeds and breeds is central to food sovereignty and climate resilience. States should ensure that patent and trade laws do not criminalize traditional seed exchange nor encourage biopiracy. Indigenous and peasant knowledge, developed through generations, should be treated as a core part of climate innovation.

4. Protect Land, Water, and Biodiversity
Climate goals cannot be met while land grabbing, deforestation, destruction of riverine and marine ecosystems, and monoculture expansion continue. The Working Group urges secure land, resource and territory rights, comprehensive land and agrarian reform, and collective ownership and governance models that sustain both people and nature.

The market capture of life-sustaining natural landscapes and components through green and blue economies must be avoided and publicly called out when seen.

Governments must ensure that carbon-credit and conservation projects do not negatively affect rightsholders’ rights to land, seeds, or productive autonomy, nor affect their livelihoods. All projects must involve the participation of local rightsholders, and benefits must be shared with them.

5. Ensure a Just Transition for Rural People
The shift to sustainable food systems must protect the livelihoods of peasants and rural workers. All climate investments—public or private—must respect human rights obligations to prevent land, territory and biodiversity loss, labour abuse, and environmental harm.

Agribusinesses benefiting from climate funds must show compliance with international human rights obligations, particularly those in UNDROP. Peasants and other rightsholders, and their organisations, should have a real voice in national delegations and UNFCCC bodies that shape agricultural and adaptation policies.

6. The Way Forward
COP30 offers a rare chance to connect human-rights law and climate policy. The Working Group calls on States to:

1. Ensure that all funds, mechanisms, proposals and solutions respect the individual and collective human rights of rightsholders as defined in UNDROP and other international human rights instruments.
2. Reform all international and national climate and adaptation funds and facilities² to allow direct access for UNDROP rightsholders, including peasants, farmers, fisherfolk, herders, Indigenous peoples, workers and rural women.
3. Support rights-based technology cooperation, ensuring solutions emerge from prior consultations, informed consent and meaningful participation by rightsholders.
4. Increase engagement among governments, peasant, fisherfolk and pastoralist movements, women’s groups, rural workers’ organisations, and Indigenous peoples to plan just transitions, informed by the rights in UNDROP.

“The climate crisis is inseparable from the crisis of rural injustice,” said the Working Group’s Chair. “Peasants and rural workers feed the world and cool the planet. Recognising and protecting their rights is not charity—it is the foundation of an effective, responsible and just response to climate change.”

ENDS

The experts:
The Working Group on Peasants and other people working in rural areas is comprised of five
independent experts from all regions of the world. The Chair-Rapporteur is Carlos Duarte
(Colombia), and the Vice-Chairs are Davit Hakobyan (Armenia) and Uche Ofodile (Nigeria); other
members are Shalmali Guttal (India), Geneviève Savigny (France).

Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights
experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are
referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts
work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While
the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in
their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including
OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not
necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.

Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index: https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/

For inquiries and media requests:
hrc-wg-peasants@un.org
Media: Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org), Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow: @UN_SPExperts

1. La UNDROP y el Grupo de Trabajo se aplican a una gama muy amplia de personas, incluidas las
   personas dedicadas a la agricultura artesanal o en pequeña escala, la plantación de cultivos, la ganadería, el pastoreo, la pesca, la silvicultura, la caza o la recolección, y la artesanía relacionada con la agricultura o una ocupación relacionada en una zona rural, junto con los pueblos indígenas, los pueblos nómadas y los migrantes, como se explica con más detalle en su artículo 1. ︎
2. Incluyendo el Fondo Verde para el Clima de la CMNUCC, el Fondo de Adaptación del Protocolo de Kioto, los Servicios para el Medio Ambiente Mundial, los Fondos de Inversión Climática administrados por el Banco Mundial y los fondos nacionales de adaptación, entre otros. ︎

La entrada 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 se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

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 a crackdown in which Indigenous, rural and environmental organisations—amongst key representatives of UNDROP rights-holders— were accused of “terrorism” and had their bank accounts frozen. These demonstrations raised urgent alarms about pressing issues directly linked to the UNDROP, such as rights to land, water, and a healthy environment, which were threatened by the termination of fuel subsidies and the advancement of mining projects on Indigenous lands.

In this context, the experts explained that a visit would have provided a vital opportunity to work with the Government to find human rights–based responses to these concerns.

They emphasised that Ecuador has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP). The experts further highlighted that this declaration offers a clear framework for tackling deep-rooted inequalities faced by rural communities and can help shape public policies that promote food sovereignty, environmental preservation, and social justice.

Read full statement:

05 November 2025

GENEVA – A group of human rights experts* today announced that their visit to Ecuador, due to take place from 4 to 14 November 2025, has been cancelled after the Government requested to reschedule it for the second half of 2026.

“The recent protests across the country reflect deep-rooted concerns about land and water rights, environmental degradation, and relate to increased cost of living and growing insecurity and violence,” said the UN Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas.

“A country visit at this moment would have allowed us to work collaboratively with the Government to identify human rights solutions to these pressing issues.”

The experts noted that the visit would have been a timely and valuable opportunity for constructive engagement with the Government and communities on advancing the rights of peasants and rural workers in Ecuador.

“The country visit would have provided an important platform to identify human rights-based approaches to the pressing challenges currently faced by peasant and Indigenous communities in Ecuador,” the Working Group said. “In light of the recent protests and the government’s response to them, this dialogue would have been particularly relevant to discuss ways to address underlying grievances and strengthen trust between communities and institutions.”

The experts reiterated that Ecuador’s progressive recognition of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) offers a concrete and principled roadmap for addressing the structural inequalities and injustices affecting peasant communities, Indigenous Peoples, small scale fishers and rural workers.

“We remain convinced that implementing UNDROP can help guide policies to ensure food sovereignty, environmental protection, and social justice,” the Working Group said, expressing readiness to support and cooperate with Ecuadorian authorities in the promotion of the rights of peasants and rural workers in the country.

The Working Group on Peasants and other people working in rural areas is comprised of five independent experts from all regions of the world. The Chair-Rapporteur is Carlos Duarte (Colombia), other members are Geneviève Savigny (France); Shalmali Guttal (India), Uche Ewelukwa Ofodile (Nigeria) and Davit Hakobyan (Armenia).

Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.

Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/.

UN Human Rights, country page – https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/ecuador

For inquiries and media requests, please contact: Jamshid GAZIYEV, Secretary of the Working Group on peasants and rural workers (jamshid.gaziyev@un.org).

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org).

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on X: @UN_SPExperts.

La entrada Ecuador postpones visit by UN Working Group on peasants’ rights se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

Calling for concrete actions for an effective realisation of rural peoples’ right to participation, the report examines the central role of peasants and rural workers in global food systems and stresses the importance of their meaningful participation in decision-making processes. It further outlines how securing peasants’ legal rights – including participation – is essential to advancing social justice, promoting environmental stewardship, and achieving sustainable development.

Read the full report:

Read also the statement delivered by the current Chair of the Working Group, Carlos Duarte, to the UN General Assembly when presenting this report:
 

La entrada The right to participation – The 3rd Report of the UN Working Group on UNDROP se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

Among other things, the event aimed to highlight the multiple challenges currently facing rural communities around the world. It also sought to explore how the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) could influence legal and policy frameworks to better protect these communities, strengthen their rights and promote social justice. Finally, the event highlighted the mobilisation of peasant movements and rural organisations across Latin America, which are working at all levels to promote and implement the UNDROP.

As moderator, Sibylle Dirren, FIAN International’s representative to the UN, emphasised the crucial role of UNDROP as a powerful tool for defending and promoting the rights of rural communities.

Carlos Duarte, Chair of the UN Working Group of Experts on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, recalled the critical situation of rural communities, which face dispossession, lack of access to land and water, and the grabbing of natural resources. He lamented the difficulties faced by rural organisations in making their voices heard in international forums, such as the COP or the Global Biodiversity Convention, even though peasant and other rural communities are directly concerned by biodiversity protection and climate issues. Mr. Duarte also pointed to the persecution and repression suffered by peasant leaders in many parts of the world. Finally, he stressed the need to strengthen the participation of rural women, who are often invisible despite being “the backbone of the peasant-rural world”.

Alfonzo Simon Raylan, representative of the Sea Workers’ Union (SITRAMAR), a member organisation of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples, sounded the alarm on the situation of fishers in the indigenous region of Ngöbe-Buglé (Panama). Since 2010, under the pretext of environmental conservation, a fishing ban has deprived these communities of their main source of livelihood, exacerbating poverty and hunger. The populations live in difficult conditions, with limited access to education, healthcare and basic services. Mr. Raylan denounced the lack of state support and the violent repression suffered by indigenous peoples when they defend their rights.

Three representatives of La Via Campesina from Latin America shared their experiences via video message. Martha Huertas Moya, a member of FENACOA/La Via Campesina Colombia, gave an encouraging assessment of the situation of Colombia’s long-marginalised peasantry. The recognition of peasants’ rights in the country’s constitution and public policies has led to better land distribution and the guarantee of rights that were previously inaccessible. However, she stressed the need to create an agrarian and rural jurisdiction and to increase the budgets allocated to rural areas in order to consolidate these advances. Arturo Aliaga, member of ANAP/La Via Campesina Cuba, highlighted concrete advances in peasants’ rights, food sovereignty and agroecology in the country. The peasant representative stated that, thanks to the strong political will of the competent authorities and ANAP’s ability to participate directly in the development of public policies and the establishment of relevant legislative frameworks, the promotion and implementation of UNDROP is now a reality. Anderson Amaro, representative of MPA/La Via Campesina Brazil, presented how Brazilian rural social movements are mobilising the UNDROP in their struggle for decent living and working conditions. More specifically, the peasant leader discussed the ongoing advocacy strategy, which aims to integrate the Declaration into the work of actors in the national judicial system, relevant ministries, and the national and departmental parliamentary agenda.

Adriana Fillol Mazo, Professor at the University of Seville and the Geneva Academy, presented UNDROP as a concrete legal tool for protecting rural communities. However, she noted the existence of several threats, such as digitalisation and agricultural technologies that can increase dependence and exclusion. The lack of generational renewal also jeopardises the future of small-scale farming. Rural women also face significant obstacles in accessing land and a dignified life. Added to this are economic pressure, violence and climate uncertainty, which are causing a silent mental health crisis in rural areas. She concluded by calling for peasants, fishers and indigenous peoples to be seen not as problems to be managed, but as essential strategic partners in building fair, resilient and sustainable food systems.

Raffaele Morgantini, CETIM representative to the UN, closed the event on a hopeful note for rural communities, thanks to the emergence of progressive case law. Indeed, decisions favourable to rural peoples’ rights are appearing in several judicial systems. In Honduras, the Supreme Court invoked UNDROP to protect peasant seeds from the “Monsanto law”, a law passed by Parliament that favoured industrial seeds and was subsequently repealed. In Colombia, the Constitutional Court granted protection to a peasant couple forced to abandon their land after repeated flooding. In February 2020, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a ruling ordering the reinstatement of an indigenous population on their ancestral land, using both UNDROP and UNDRIP (UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples). Other examples exist in Kenya and Canada, covering rights related to seeds and health. Mr. Morgantini stressed that these advances would not have been possible without strong alliances between peasant and rural movements, human rights defenders, lawyers, academics and the commitment of public authorities. These collaborations make it possible to transform principles into concrete actions in rural communities, courts and national policies.

Read our exclusive interview with Working Group Chair Carlos Duarte and our article on the Working Group’s report presented at the 60^th session of the Human Rights Council.

La entrada Side event at the UN: Challenges and best practices in promoting the rights of peasants and rural workers in Latin America se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

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.

La entrada When Civil Society Plants the Seeds of Normative Change: the Role of Non-state Actors in the Adoption of UNDROP se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

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 the systemic challenges faced by rural communities around the world. Duarte outlined the report’s drafting process — which was marked by significant civil society participation — and highlighted its main findings and recommendations addressed to States.

Throughout the interview, Duarte also emphasized the role of the Working Group he currently chairs, underlining the importance of strengthening collaboration with peasant and rural organizations as a key strategy for advancing the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) globally.

Read the full interview:

• Could you please remind us what the UN Working Group on the UNDROP is, what its mandate entails, and what its main objectives are?

Our main objective is to work on the dissemination of the Declaration at the global level, and to provide technical support to States and civil society in understanding the Declaration and in its proper implementation. Likewise, we are very committed to ensuring that the rights of peasants, both men and women, and rural workers are not violated by States or by other private actors. And when such violations do occur, they must be reported through the mechanisms we have available.

The Working Group is composed of five experts at a global level. We have an expert, Geneviève Savigny, who has dedicated all her work to the Declaration process and is a member of La Vía Campesina. She represents Western Europe, North America, Australia and Japan. There are also the representatives of Eastern Europe (Davit Hakobyan), of Asia (Shalmali Guttal), and of Africa (Uche Ewelukwa Ofodile).

As for my own case, I was elected for Latin America and the Caribbean. For my election, I had the support of three large peasant organisations from Colombia, which were the Coordinador Nacional Agrario, the Asociación Nacional de Zonas de Reserva Campesina, and the Asociación Nacional de Usuarios Campesinos. These three organisations supported my candidacy, as did the Ministry of Agriculture of Colombia.

• Under your presidency, the Working Group has just presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council on emerging trends and risks faced by the rights holders of the UNDROP. What was the process behind the preparation of this report?

We have several ways of engaging both with States and with civil society, as well as with our rights holders.

Perhaps the most direct tool we have — and which we try to ensure is reflected clearly in our reports — is the input we receive from civil society and from States. This particular report draws on contributions from 2024 and 2025, aiming to highlight the main challenges faced by peasant and rural communities, while also gathering examples of good practices from around the world. That is our most important resource, but not the only one.

We also receive urgent appeals and communications from civil society. In addition, we carry out technical visits — both to States and to civil society actors — in support of the implementation of the Declaration.

Each of us in the Working Group has been engaging and travelling within our respective regions to support social organisations, and this has also been a valuable source of input for the report. Furthermore, on many occasions, social organisations or networks of NGOs invite us to visit countries and work directly on the ground.

This year, for example, we supported discussions on food in Argentina, seeds in Guatemala, and water and rural women in Ecuador. We’ve also taken part in events such as the Nyéléni Forum, attended by our colleague Shalmali Guttal, and we’ll be participating in the CFS in Rome with Geneviève Savigny. We also took part in COP16 in Cali, where we aimed to stay informed about the views of civil society and the debates taking place.

We also draw on specialised literature and official reports from both States and the United Nations system, in order to produce a report that is based on multiple sources. As far as possible, we try to cross-reference and verify the information we include.

• What were the main findings and challenges identified in the report?

This report seeks to assess the current situation of peasants and rural workers around the world, and more broadly, of all rights holders under the UNDROP Declaration. Around twelve years ago, the Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council conducted an assessment that served as the foundation for drafting the Declaration — after recognising that the situation of the peasantry at the global level was critical. Our goal was to evaluate how the situation has evolved since then.

Unfortunately, we found that the situation of rural populations — the rights holders — remains critical globally. The inequality gap between rural and urban populations has not diminished; in fact, it has widened, especially as a result of the pandemic, as well as serious instability, conflict, and processes linked to climate change. Regrettably, we must point out that rural populations are the ones experiencing the highest levels of hunger in the world, which is an absolute paradox. Those who produce our food are the ones who go hungriest.

We have identified three key themes that cut across our report.

First, there is a major concern regarding the loss of territories, land, and nature-related resources vital to the livelihoods of rural communities. In other words, land and water are being increasingly privatised, to such an extent that we have warned we may be witnessing the onset of a new wave of agrarian counter-reform across the globe. Land ownership and concentration continue to rise, and in this context, we advocate for the recovery of agrarian reform policies as essential tools to address territorial rights imbalances.

We also propose to broaden the concept of rural territorial space beyond just the land, to include other relationships with nature — such as oceans and rivers, which are essential territories for fishing communities and central to their sense of territoriality — as well as areas such as forests. Moreover, it’s crucial to recognise mobile populations such as pastoralist peoples and migrant workers.

We therefore suggest that countries, as well as institutions like the United Nations and FAO, adopt more complex indicators than just land ownership. There needs to be a shift towards a broader territorial understanding in order to grasp the true nature of these challenges.

Secondly, a very evident issue raised in the contributions was the role of rural women. Despite all these years, rural women continue to face significant gaps in political participation and leadership. But it’s not only about participation; it’s also about access to land titles, or to financial mechanisms for rural development projects. This is an area that needs to be addressed transversally to close the gender gap, which remains substantial.

A third key issue we wish to highlight concerns the political persecution and dispossession of peasant communities from their territories. Stigmatisation continues to be closely associated with rural and peasant leadership, reflecting structural challenges that vary across different states and rural contexts — including the presence of armed political actors, both legal and illegal, tribal factions in certain regions, and economies based on illicit activities. States often stigmatise rural populations for dynamics that are, ironically, the responsibility of the State to control. In many cases, rural communities are blamed for phenomena that are clearly beyond their control — and that, more often than not, they suffer as victims. We have seen that across the world, the leadership and environmental defence carried out by UNDROP’s rights holders frequently exposes them to persecution, criminalisation, and, in many cases, even murder or enforced disappearance.

These three issues are transversal themes in our report. There are, of course, other specific findings, but these roughly summarise a situation in which, although there has been some progress, the overall conditions for peasants and rural workers remain extremely urgent and precarious at the global level.

• What measures can be taken to strengthen dialogue and collective work with rights holders’ organisations, ensuring effective grassroots participation?

I believe one of our key priorities as a Working Group is to raise awareness of the Declaration. At present, it has not achieved the level of visibility and dissemination it ought to have, and there are several reasons for this. For example, in the African context, the Declaration has yet to be translated into all traditional languages across the continent, nor has it been translated into the Indigenous languages of Latin America. This is a significant limitation, as we must remember that our Declaration should be read in conjunction with, and as complementary to, the UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples). UNDROP and UNDRIP are sister declarations — they reinforce one another. And within the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, Indigenous Peoples are also recognised as rights holders. People cannot claim or defend rights they do not know they have. If they are not aware of the Declaration, it is unlikely they will be able to take ownership of it.

Secondly, we believe it is essential, as experts, to be invited by states and civil society to engage with different regional, national, and local contexts. This undoubtedly adds depth and value to our work. As a Working Group, we do not wish to operate in isolation — we aim, as much as possible, to stay connected with the people whose rights are at the heart of this Declaration.

We also recognise that financial limitations are a major challenge, and we need to be creative in identifying ways to maintain at least a basic level of engagement with social organisations. We are currently working with various grassroots movements around the world — notably La Vía Campesina — to explore options for holding side events or virtual meetings, which can help ease communication difficulties and address funding challenges, allowing us to remain in contact with organisations and rights holders.

Ultimately, we hope that civil society will continue to engage with us on an ongoing basis — whether through our shared email address, which reaches all members of the Working Group, or by inviting us to participate in events within their countries. We are absolutely willing — subject to availability — to visit countries and communities around the world where we are invited. If financial constraints can be overcome, you can rest assured that we will be there.

• Based on the findings of your report, which also highlights some good practices, what would be your main recommendations for States regarding the implementation of UNDROP and the overcoming of identified challenges?

First and foremost, the main recommendation for States is to advance knowledge and understanding of the Declaration. To that end, States should know that they can count on the support of the Working Group. Secondly, they should work towards the implementation of the Declaration within their countries.

There are various mechanisms for implementation. States can express political support before the Human Rights Council, but what we especially recommend is its practical application through national regulations and legislation. We believe that this is where the implementation of UNDROP holds the greatest potential and value — whether through constitutional provisions or sectoral decrees that directly impact the lives of peasants and rural populations.

Equally important, we believe States should be encouraged to see peasants and rural communities not merely as food providers — although that is, in itself, a critical concern for cities and for national food security and sovereignty — but to adopt a more holistic perspective. Rural and agricultural workers do not only contribute economically by producing food; they also have cultural, territorial, environmental, and social dimensions that must be recognised and integrated. Public policy at different levels should adopt differentiated approaches in order to enable rural communities to remain on their land and to achieve improved standards of dignified living.

Another recommendation relates specifically to the protection of the lives and rights of rural communities. While this might seem obvious, in many places there is a pattern of dispossession, often due to informal land tenure systems or corporate interests in nature and territory. States must understand that the dispossession of peasants today is a direct threat to the food security and sovereignty of their countries.

We also consider it essential to expand the participation of peasants and rural communities in the decision-making processes that affect them. That is to say, these communities should be consulted on the policies, programmes, and projects that have an impact on their lives.

• Given the interest shown by countries from different regions during the presentation of the report, how do you see the role of States in advancing the effective implementation of UNDROP at national and international levels?

The fundamental commitment of States must be to implement the Declaration within their own countries. That is, in a sense, the minimum requirement. In many countries, the peasantry and rural life form an essential part of national life. Many countries around the world remain deeply agrarian or rural in nature. We saw this clearly during the presentation of the report’s findings: notably, the entire African bloc showed strong interest, as did a large number of countries in Latin America and Asia. Even countries that, on the surface, may not appear to rely heavily on their rural populations expressed clear concern, such as those in Western Europe, or social organisations representing migrants and rural workers in the United States and Canada, where the contribution of migrant rural workers is vital to the production of food consumed in those regions.

This is, therefore, a global concern. If we consider that ending hunger is one of the Millennium Development Goals, we must recognise that the protection of peasants and rural workers is a cornerstone in the fight against hunger worldwide.

• What are the next steps and future perspectives of the Working Group to strengthen the implementation and impact of UNDROP?

The Working Group always has a rather full agenda. Fortunately, we receive many invitations from both States and civil society, particularly to provide technical support.

In November, we will carry out our first country visit — to Ecuador. It is a complex and, in some ways, bittersweet context. Ecuador was one of the first countries to adopt the Declaration, as its Constitution grants equal status to both declarations and treaties. However, at the same time, we are aware of the strong social tensions currently affecting the country. We sincerely hope to support the State in deepening its understanding of the Declaration, while also accompanying peasants and rural workers who face urgent challenges.

We also have a calendar of events where we believe the concerns of the peasantry and rural communities must be heard. Notably, we will be present at the Food Systems event in Rome. We are also actively preparing for, and looking forward to, the second Global Meeting on Agrarian Reform in Colombia next year, as well as COP17 in Armenia and COP30 this year in Brazil. These are key opportunities to continue advancing the environmental dimension of peasant rights and their inclusion in the Global Biodiversity Framework.

In addition, we have received several requests for country visits from rights holders. In the region I am more directly involved with, I have commitments to visit Paraguay, Panama, and other locations to continue expanding our work on the ground. Notably, we are fully available to social organisations to support their questions and assist them in their engagement with States to help build understanding of the Declaration.

• Finally, what are the upcoming reports and topics the Working Group will be addressing?

One of our first activities this year, following the presentation of this report, will be the launch of our second report at the General Assembly in New York. This report will focus on a topic we consider vital: the enhanced political participation of peasants and all rural organisations.

It will be presented in mid-October in New York, and we hope it will contribute meaningfully to the discussions taking place in various national and international forums around the inclusion of rural communities and workers in the decision-making processes that affect them.

In addition, we have already agreed on two themes for next year’s reports. The next report, in alignment with the discussions at the second Global Meeting on Agrarian Reform, will focus on land and peasant–rural territoriality.

The 2026 report will address an issue that is essential to the reproduction of rural peasant life: seeds. This topic is covered specifically in Article 19 of the Declaration, which we hope will support many peasant and rural communities in their discussions around the UPOV Convention, which has proven highly challenging in various contexts. It will also be important for Indigenous Peoples and communities, allowing us to work in synergy between Article 19 of UNDROP and Article 25 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). We believe both articles go hand in hand — covering both the intellectual and material ownership of seeds.

For all of these reports, we expect and encourage the participation of States and civil society, especially that of the rights holders outlined in the Declaration: peasant populations, Indigenous Peoples, pastoralists, small-scale fishers, agricultural workers, and both documented and undocumented migrant workers, all of whom are included in the Declaration. We look forward to their contributions, which undoubtedly enrich the debate, and we will take them into account in the reports we prepare over the coming year.

As we have stated previously, contributions from both civil society and States are our main source of input. Calls for submissions will be issued for each of these reports, and we hope to receive a large number of contributions, as we did for the 2024 and 2025 reports.

La entrada Exclusive interview with Carlos Duarte, Chair of the UN Working Group on UNDROP. se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

Seven years after the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), the situation remains mixed: undeniable legal and political progress has been made, but violations and systemic threats persist, and in some cases are even worsening. At the 60th session of the Human Rights Council, La Via Campesina—represented by Alberto Silva for the Swiss organization Uniterre and on behalf of CETIM—and FIAN—represented by Alfonzo Simon (World Forum of Fisher Peoples, Panamanian organization SITRAMAR)—emphasized the importance of placing peasants and rural communities at the heart of public policies and of protecting their territorial and land rights in the face of growing threats.

The second report of the UN Working Group presents a striking overview: land and ocean grabbing, “green grabbing” in the name of carbon offsetting, violence and criminalization of defenders, and persistent discrimination against rural women. Yet, alongside these challenges, the report also highlights positive experiences, where land reforms, innovative judicial mechanisms, and agroecological initiatives demonstrate that it is possible to put peasants at the center of public policies. Between mounting threats and inspiring good practices, this report underscores the urgency of collective action to make UNDROP a genuine roadmap for dignity and social, economic, and climate justice in rural areas.

Summary of the 2nd Report on UNDROP: Issues and Recommendations

From land and ocean grabbing to violence, criminalization, and repression of peasants and fisherfolk, to seeds, climate crises, discrimination, and social protection, the latest report of the Working Group provides a panorama of the systemic challenges faced by rights-holders under UNDROP.

The report warns in particular of the rise of “green grabbing,” that is, the appropriation of land for carbon offsetting purposes. Under the guise of sustainable environmental protection, fossil fuel giants such as Shell continue to invest massively in offset projects, thereby reinforcing transnational corporations’ (TNCs) control over land and the financialization of nature. Today, such “green grabbing” practices account for around 20% of all large-scale land acquisitions, directly impacting rural communities. The same applies to ocean grabbing: the blue economy agenda (with trade agreements and marine spatial planning) is leading to the commodification of oceans and the appropriation of customary commons by TNCs.

“Globally, 1% of farms now control 70% of the world’s agricultural land, while 84% of farms control only 12% of agricultural land. The richest 10% of the rural population hold 60% of the value of agricultural land, while the poorest 50% hold just 3%.” cf. Report A/HRC/60/33 of the Working Group on the Rights of Peasants, Part II.F on the concentration of land ownership.

In a context of strong competition for land and resources, rural communities are subjected to violence, forced evictions, destruction, and repression.

The rights of peasant women, notably in terms of land ownership, political participation, and access to resources, are still widely violated due to patriarchal norms, discriminatory legal frameworks, and intersecting oppressions linked to gender, rurality, class, or ethnicity. Peasant women face exclusion from decision-making, deprivation of inheritance and agricultural control, an overload of unpaid domestic work, gender-based violence, and restricted access to education and healthcare. This structural discrimination increases poverty and food insecurity, highlighting the urgent need for legal, social, and economic reforms to guarantee their rights and justice.

Nevertheless, the report also lists good practices observed in some states. In Mali, the new agricultural land law, developed through a multi-stakeholder platform, is cited as a good example of adequate and effective participation of peasants in political processes. In Colombia, the creation of an agricultural court aims to ensure the presence of judges and prosecutors dedicated exclusively to the rapid and simplified resolution of agrarian conflicts. Ghana’s land law includes an innovative protection that nullifies any decision or practice under the customary land regime that results in discrimination.

The Working Group notably recommends strengthening the legal recognition and protection of peasant organizations, unions, cooperatives, and land rights movements, as well as the territorial rights of all rights-holders. It calls for the repeal of anti-terrorism and public order laws used to criminalize peasant struggles, the pursuit of fair agrarian reforms, the elimination of discriminatory practices against rural women, and the reorientation of agricultural policies. Experts emphasize the need for states to recognize UNDROP, to integrate peasant rights into their institutional and legal frameworks as well as climate strategies, to ensure that funding directly supports their solutions rather than the commercial interests of transnational corporations.

Read the report

The Interactive Dialogue at the UN Human Rights Council

On Wednesday, 17 September 2025, during the 60th session of the Human Rights Council, the Chair of the Working Group on the Rights of Peasants, Mr. Carlos Duarte, presented the Group’s 2nd report in plenary session. While the growing number of countries recognizing peasants’ rights in their constitutions and legislation is encouraging, threats and violence against rural and Indigenous communities are also increasing. In response, Carlos Duarte reminded that UNDROP is a clear roadmap and that it is high time to act collectively to guarantee a dignified life for peasants.

During the interactive dialogue, the majority of states emphasized that peasants are essential to the fight against poverty and to food security. Concerns about the concentration of land in the hands of a few and problems of land access were frequently raised. States stressed the need for sustainable rural policies, better access to land, water, credit, and markets, and emphasized that peasants must participate directly in the decisions that affect them. Several countries (Bolivia, Gambia, Ghana, Tanzania, Cameroon, Malawi, Honduras, Mexico, Sudan, Cuba, Venezuela) highlighted recurring challenges: land grabbing, criminalization of human rights defenders, stigmatization, gender-based discrimination, violence, climate change impacts, and armed conflicts. They insisted on the importance of resilient agricultural policies, sustainable practices, and climate financing directed toward peasant solutions rather than commercial interests. Many states reaffirmed their support for the Working Group and their willingness to cooperate, and also called for the protection of peasant rights defenders and stronger mechanisms for implementing UNDROP.

Many states presented actions taken to promote and implement peasants’ rights. In terms of land, Colombia has launched a comprehensive rural reform stemming from the peace agreement, while Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi, Togo, Burkina Faso, and India have adopted laws or created agencies to regularize and secure access to land. Several countries have highlighted specific initiatives in favor of rural women: empowerment programs in Azerbaijan, Mexico, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. Others have strengthened social protection and basic services in rural areas, such as Portugal, Spain, and Algeria, as well as programs providing economic and technical support to smallholders (Gambia, Cameroon, Egypt, Iraq). Finally, some states emphasized measures to increase resilience to climate change, through promoting sustainable agricultural practices, access to credit, and resilient inputs (Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia, Iran).

Alberto Silva of La Via Campesina (representing the Swiss organization Uniterre), speaking on behalf of CETIM, emphasized that the Working Group’s report presents positive experiences that can inspire all member states. These demonstrate that placing peasants at the center of public policies can improve living and working conditions in rural areas. Alberto Silva warned of the existential challenges humanity faces: land grabbing, biodiversity erosion, the threat to seeds from industrial selection, and environmental degradation. In the face of these threats, UNDROP is an effective and concrete legal and political tool, which strengthens national legislative frameworks and opens inclusive spaces for dialogue. He called on states to collaborate with peasants and the Working Group to advance the rights of peasants contained in UNDROP.

Alfonzo Simon of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP) (representing the Panamanian organization SITRAMAR), speaking on behalf of FIAN, thanked the Working Group for its report, which recognizes the erosion of territorial rights (land, rivers, waters…). Fisherfolk, Indigenous peoples, and rural communities in Panama face strong repression when they defend their rights or resist forced displacement. While they are the guardians of biodiversity and food systems, their livelihoods are increasingly threatened by the agribusiness and extractive industries, as well as conservation agendas such as the 30×30 initiative.

“We, Indigenous fisherfolk, are not a threat to biodiversity, we are its guardians. Our voices must be heard, and our rights protected.”

Alfonzo came from Panama to denounce the urgent situation of the Ngäbe Buglé Indigenous fisherfolk, threatened by the government’s suspension of fishing on Escudo de Veraguas Island, their last ancestral fishing ground. He asked the Working Group to urge the Panamanian state to end these measures and the violence, to recognize their rights (enshrined in UNDRIP and UNDROP), and to guarantee their participation in decisions that impact their way of life.

La entrada Systemic Challenges and Good Practices in Rural Areas – The 2nd Report of the UN Working Group on UNDROP se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.