When Civil Society Plants the Seeds of Normative Change: the Role of Non-state Actors in the Adoption of UNDROP
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When Civil Society Plants the Seeds of Normative Change: the Role of Non-state Actors in the Adoption of UNDROP

ByAlexandre Mortelette

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.

Systemic Challenges and Good Practices in Rural Areas – The 2nd Report of the UN Working Group on UNDROP
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Systemic Challenges and Good Practices in Rural Areas – The 2nd Report of the UN Working Group on UNDROP

ByCETIM

This article was originally published on the website of La Via Campesina on 25 September 2025 (available here). 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…

Call for input from the Special Rapporteur on the right to food
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Call for input from the Special Rapporteur on the right to food

ByDefending Peasants' Rights

Call for Input : Concentration of corporate power in global food systems and its implications for the realization of the right to food All the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council can published calls for inputs. These calls are addressed to any interested parties to the subject. Civil society organizations and human rights…

How to implement the UNDROP at the European and national level to promote peasants’ rights – publication and video
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How to implement the UNDROP at the European and national level to promote peasants’ rights – publication and video

ByEuropean Coordination Via Campesina

Update – Recording available! Public event “How to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) at the European and national level to promote sustainable and resilient food systems”, 19 February 2025. The event aimed to discuss with key representatives of the European Union how…

Contributions to the second call for input of the UN Working Group on UNDROP

Contributions to the second call for input of the UN Working Group on UNDROP

ByDefending Peasants' Rights

The UN Working Group on UNDROP has launched a call for contributions for its two annual thematic reports for 2025. The first focuses on global trends and challenges affecting peasants and other people working in rural areas. To this end, it identifies and assesses persistent or emerging risks and vulnerabilities faced by peasants and other…

Calls for inputs from the Special Rapporteur on Climate change
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Calls for inputs from the Special Rapporteur on Climate change

ByDefending Peasants' Rights

Elisa Morgera, the UN Special Rapporteur on on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, has issued 2 calls for inputs that can be related to Peasants’ Rights: Fossil Fuel-based Economy and human rights and Human Rights in the life cycle of Renewable Energy and Critical Minerals. All the…

The Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and COP16:Advancing Peasants’ Rights in Biodiversity Conservation

The Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and COP16:Advancing Peasants’ Rights in Biodiversity Conservation

ByDefending Peasants' Rights

Prior to the COP 16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October 2024, the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants released the following statement on the interrelation between the Convention and UNDROP. They argued that the COP is a critical space and moment for advancing the rights of peasants and other people…

Dossier: Activities surrounding the first report of the UNDROP Working Group
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Dossier: Activities surrounding the first report of the UNDROP Working Group

ByDefending Peasants' Rights

In September 2024, the UN Working Group on UNDROP presented its first annual report to the Human Rights Council. The presentation of this first official report was an opportunity for La Via Campesina and allied organizations to take part in discussions at international level. La Via Campesina was able to position itself as a constant…

Introducing the members of the UN Working Group on UNDROP
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Introducing the members of the UN Working Group on UNDROP

ByDefending Peasants' Rights

At its 54th session in October 2023, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution establishing a Working Group on the Declaration of the Rights of Peasants and Other Rural Workers. The five experts making up this group were appointed at the following session, on April 5th, 2024. And on September 19th 2024, these experts…

Civil society organizations’ written statement to the first report of the UN Working Group on UNDROP
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Civil society organizations’ written statement to the first report of the UN Working Group on UNDROP

ByDefending Peasants' Rights

On the occasion of the presentation of the first report of the UN Working Group to the Human Rights Council, Cetim and Fian International made a written statement to the Council. The statement was written and sent prior to the publication of the Working Group’s report. The statement puts into context the adoption of the…

First report of the UN Working Group on UNDROP
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First report of the UN Working Group on UNDROP

ByDefending Peasants' Rights

On September 19th, The UN Working Group on UNDROP has submitted its first report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. If the first two parts of the report are dedicated to the context of their mandate and the history of the recognition of the UNDROP, the last parts of the report are a first…

The UN Working Group on the UNDROP – Video presentation by Geneviève Savigny
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The UN Working Group on the UNDROP – Video presentation by Geneviève Savigny

ByDefending Peasants' Rights

Belgium, July 2024. Geneviève Savigny, Chair of the UN Working Group on UNDROP, introduces us to the group, its mandate, prerogatives and initial projects.She also explains how to contact the Group’s experts. She emphasizes the importance of being able to interact with peasants and rural workers.She concludes her presentation with a message of support and…