United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants

The declaration lays down a series of rights for peasants, and has often been seen as complementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

History

Background

In 2008, the Declaration of Rights of Peasants – Women and Men was launched by la Via Campesina which, with support from other civil society organizations, presented it to the United Nations' Human Rights Council.

The text was then used as a basis from 2009 to 2018 to negotiate the text of the final UNDROP Declaration. The negotiations were supported by civil society groups such as La Via Campesina, FIAN International, or the Europe–Third World Centre (CETIM), but also by academics such as the Peasants Rights group of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and several UN Special Rapporteurs.

Farmers' rights

The concept of peasants' rights build over the farmers' rights recognized, among others, in FAO's Plant Treaty and in the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Negotiations of the text

Before the negotiations started

Launch

The negotiations, initially led by Bolivia, were initiated by the UN Human Rights Council and ultimately adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

Human Rights Council

On 28 September 2018, draft resolution A/HRC/39/L.16 was presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council, supported by Algeria, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Egypt, Haiti, Kenya, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Philippines, South Africa, Togo, Venezuela and the State of Palestine.

It was subsequently adopted with 33 votes in favour, 11 abstentions (Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain) and 3 against (Australia, Hungary and the United Kingdom) as HRC Resolution 39/12

General Assembly's Third Committee

On 24 October, the UN General Assembly's Third Committee held an open-ended intergovernmental working group was held to discuss the draft UNDROP, where comments were made by the representatives of Bolivia, Indonesia, the European Union, Cuba and South Africa. The draft Resolution (A/C.3/73/L.30) was presented to the UN General Assembly's Third Committee on 8 November by the representative of Bolivia with co-sponsor from Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Portugal, South Africa and Venezuela.

On 19 November, the draft gained support from Benin, the Central African Republic, Chad, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was subsequently submitted to vote, which result was positive: with 119 votes in favour, 7 votes against (Australia, Hungary, Israel, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America) and 49 abstentions

General Assembly 73rd Plenary Session

At its 55th plenary meeting on 17 December 2018, the Seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted its Resolution 73/165, containing the UNDROP as an annexe, and which introduction reads:

The General Assembly,

Welcoming the adoption by the Human Rights Council, in its resolution 39/12 of 28 September 2018,1 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas,

1. Adopts the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, as contained in the annexe to the present resolution;
2. Invites Governments, agencies and organizations of the United Nations system and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to disseminate the Declaration and to promote universal respect and understanding thereof;
3. Requests the Secretary-General to include the text of the Declaration in the next edition of Human Rights: A Compilation of International Instruments.

Before the adoption, the representative of Switzerland (one of the few non-developing countries that votes favourably) declared about the UNDROP that it "seeks to summarize the rights of peasants in a single document in order to better raise awareness about their situation. It is a very important political signal."

The countries that voted in favour were Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brunei, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Notably, Australia, Guatemala, Hungary, Israel, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States voted against the declaration.

The countries that abstained were Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kiribati, Latvia, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Palau, Poland, South Korea, Romania, Russia, Samoa, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Tuvalu, Ukraine, and Vanuatu.