The United Nations Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP)
Author: Dr. Christophe Golay, Senior Research Fellow, Geneva Academy
December 2024
In October 2023, the Human Rights Council created the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, composed of five independent experts. The Working Group started its activities in May 2024.
The Working Group is mandated to promote the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) adopted in 2018, to identify gaps in its implementation, to disseminate good practices, to facilitate exchanges and international cooperation, and to report to the Human Rights Council and to the General Assembly.
This Research Brief aims to present this new mechanism, and how civil society can engage with te Working Group. It describes the Working Group’s creation and composition, mandate and activities, and provides examples of the work of other UN human rights mechanisms.
About the publication
This Research Brief is published with Fastenaktion/Action de Carême and RAISE. The project Rights-based and Agroecological Initiatives for Sustainability and Equity in Peasant Communities (RAISE) was launched in 2022, with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). It promotes the agroecological transition and UNDROP’s implementation in India, Nepal, Kenya, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and South Africa. This project is coordinated by Fastenaktion, in collaboration with Rural Women Assembly, Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Switzerland, DKA Austria, Center for Minority Rights Development, Reseau Billital Marobee and the Social Work Institute.
Contact persons:
- Fastenaktion: Claudia Fuhrer, Right to Food Policy Officer, fuhrer(at)fastenaktion.ch.
Fastenaktion is CIDSE’s Swiss member organisation. - CIDSE: Manny Yap, Food and Land Policy Officer, yap(at)cidse.org.
Cover photo credit: Pexels.com, pexels-zeus-the-creator-285924264-14314173