Rural Women as Rights Holders: UNDROP from the Perspective of Those Who Safeguard Life
| | |

Rural Women as Rights Holders: UNDROP from the Perspective of Those Who Safeguard Life

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…

The International Movement of Peoples Affected by Dams, Socio-environmental Crimes, and the Climate Crisis
|

The International Movement of Peoples Affected by Dams, Socio-environmental Crimes, and the Climate Crisis

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,…

Rural Women and Unpaid Care Work: Gaps and Opportunities within International Law
| |

Rural Women and Unpaid Care Work: Gaps and Opportunities within International Law

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,…

Brazil: National Council for Human Rights adopts key regulation to advance the implementation of UNDROP
| | |

Brazil: National Council for Human Rights adopts key regulation to advance the implementation of UNDROP

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…

52 peasants arrested in France: Confédération paysanne and CETIM appeal to UN Mechanisms
|

52 peasants arrested in France: Confédération paysanne and CETIM appeal to UN Mechanisms

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…

Call for Inputs: Report of the UNDROP Working Group on the Right to Seeds
|

Call for Inputs: Report of the UNDROP Working Group on the Right to Seeds

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…

Call for Inputs: Report of the UNDROP Working Group on Land, Territories and Sea
|

Call for Inputs: Report of the UNDROP Working Group on Land, Territories and Sea

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…

Research Brief: The Role of Social Movements and Civil Society Organizations in the Promotion and Monitoring of UNDROP
|

Research Brief: The Role of Social Movements and Civil Society Organizations in the Promotion and Monitoring of UNDROP

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…

Newsletter n°9 | Seed Sovereignty: Advancements and Setbacks in the Right to Seeds

Newsletter n°9 | Seed Sovereignty: Advancements and Setbacks in the Right to Seeds

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…

Corporate impunity and seed sovereignty: Interview with the Rural Womens’ Assembly (RWA)
| | | |

Corporate impunity and seed sovereignty: Interview with the Rural Womens’ Assembly (RWA)

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…

Peasants’ right to seed – Briefing paper by the Working Group on peasants and other people working in rural areas
| | |

Peasants’ right to seed – Briefing paper by the Working Group on peasants and other people working in rural areas

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…

17 December: The 7th anniversary of UNDROP

17 December: The 7th anniversary of UNDROP

The 17 December 2025 marks the 7th anniversary of the adoption of UNDROP!  We publish here below the statement issued by the UN Working Group of Experts on UNDROP on this occasion, which reflects on the ongoing relevance and urgency of the UNDROP. On this anniversary, the indispensable contributions of peasants, small-scale fishers, pastoralists, herders,…