Interview with Diego Monton, National Indigenous Peasant Movement (MNCI) of Argentina/CLOC–Via Campesina In a regional scenario marked by a multidimensional crisis—characterized by the advance of agribusiness, the criminalization of popular struggles, and the weakening of collective rights—peasants continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups and, at the same time, one of the most…
This publication, originally produced by the Network of Rural Women of Ecuador and FIAN Ecuador, is hereby republished by Defending Peasant Rights. The Network of Rural Women of Ecuador has set out to analyze the realities affecting life in their territories in light of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other…
Photo: Marcelo Aguilar / MAB Defending Peasants’ Rights hereby republishes the Public Manifesto launching the International Movement of Peoples Affected by Dams, Socio-environmental Crimes, and the Climate Crisis. This new international movement was created at the IV International Meeting of Communities Affected by Dams and the Climate Crisis, held in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025,…
Introduction Human beings depend on care; societies and economies depend upon unpaid and paid care work to function.1 Unpaid care work is mostly provided within households or families and contributes an estimated US$11 trillion to the global economy each year. More than three quarters of this unpaid care work is performed by women and girls2,…
Lara Estevão Lourenço: National Human Rights Councilor and community lawyer for the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT – La Via Campesina Brazil)Letícia Souza: National Human Rights Councilor and community lawyer for the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST – La Via Campesina Brazil) On June 5, 2025, the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), after being prompted by Brazilian…
Defending Peasants’ Rights hereby republishes the press release issued by the Confédération paysanne and CETIM on 15 January 2026. 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…
Editor’s note: The United Nations Working Group on UNDROP has opened a call for inputs inviting civil society, states, and multilateral institutions to directly contribute to its next report on the Right to Seeds, which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in October 2026. This is a key opportunity for rural movements…
Editor’s note: The United Nations Working Group on UNDROP has opened a call for inputs inviting civil society, states, and multilateral institutions to directly contribute to its next report on Peasant Territorialities of Sea and Land, which will be delivered to the UN General Assembly in the fall of 2026. This is a key opportunity…
In this publication, Christophe Golay presents examples of good practices in the promotion and monitoring of UNDROP by social movements and civil society organizations in Southern Africa, Kenya, Burkina Faso and Nepal. These examples, which are key achievements of the RAISE project between 2022 and 2025, should be replicated in many other countries and regions…
As 2025 draws to a close, Defending Peasants’ Rights has published key updates on recent global developments impacting the right to seeds A milestone victory for Kenyan peasants! In November, a milestone judicial victory for peasants took place in Kenya. As Karine Peschard explains in her article, the UNDROP provided an important legal leverage in…
Interview conducted by Defending Peasants’ Rights in October 2025, on the occasion of the 11th session of negotiations for a UN legally binding treaty to regulate transnational corporations, held at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Interviewees: Lungisa Huna – RWA South Africa; Grace Tepula and Precious Shonga – RWA Zambia; Zakithi Sibandze – RWA…
Article originally posted on: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/tools-and-resources/peasants-right-seed-briefing-paper-working-group-peasants-and-other (26 November 2025) 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…
