TRAINING ON THE UNDROP – SESSION 1 “HISTORY OF THE STRUGGLE FOR THE UNDROP AND LESSONS LEARNED”
La Via Campesina and CETIM have organized a training course for La Via Campesina members in August 2023, and are now making training materials available to all. This material is also available in PDF version here.
In December 2018, after 17 intense years of work and negotiations, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), which codifies and protects the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas. This declaration is a historic step towards the protection of the human rights of these populations, as they are the main victims of poverty, hunger and multiple human rights violations in the world. This situation is paradoxical since it is widely accepted that peasants, both in the Global North and the Global South, are key actors in the production of food, in the protection of biodiversity and in the fight against hunger and the global climate crisis.
Objective of session 1: To understand the historical context of UNDROP. It will also be an opportunity to learn about the UN system and the UN human rights mechanisms. How did peasants’ rights become an international issue? What has LVC and its allies learned?
Methodology: Participants will follow a series of video trainings on the history of UNDROP. Also, during this week of study, the organizers will provide a self-assessment questionnaire on these aspects and a space for questions.
FORMATION MATERIAL
- Read the preamble of the UNDROP
- See the video on the history of the UNDROP, by Henry Saragih (SPI, LVC Indonesia)
- See the video on the history of the UNDROP negotiation process by Natalia Pacheco (former diplomat in the Permanent Mission of the Plurinational State of Bolivia).
Compulsory training sheets to read:
- La Via Campesina’s introductory booklet: “United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People working in Rural Areas“
- CETIM’s training sheets “Introduction of the UNDROP“
Complementary materials for further reading:
- See the timeline of the history of the UNDROP in the website Defending Peasants’ Rights
- Read the first part of the book by Coline Hubert (CETIM) “The UNDROP. A tool in the Struggle for our Common Future” (free access to the PDF version here)
- Read the article on the Journal of Peasants Studies “The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People working in Rural Areas”, signed by Marc Edelman and Priscilla Clays
