3 Years of UNDROP: Uphold UNDROP in Indonesia!

(Jarkata, December 17, 2021) On December 17, 3 years ago, in 2018, UNDROP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas) was born after the United Nations adopted the text of the declaration which subsequently became a human rights instrument that recognizes the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas. The birth of UNDROP was a historic moment for peasants, fisherfolk and indigenous peoples around the world because the struggles pursued for almost 20 years have finally yielded results in the form of an instrument that recognizes the rights of peasants and obliges the state and other actors to fulfil, protect and respect the rights of peasants contained therein. However, after 3 years of its birth, several countries, such as Indonesia, have still not put UNDROP into their national regulations or made it a reference in making and implementing policies related to peasants and people working in rural areas.

Therefore, in commemoration of the 3rd anniversary of the birth of UNDROP, the Indonesian Peasants Union (SPI) had organized several activities to strengthen UNDROP’s position in national regulations. The first activity carried out was a webinar entitled “Reading the UPOV Threat and Efforts to Protect and Respect Peasants’ Rights to Seed through UNDROP”. In addition to being held to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of the birth of UNDROP, the activity which was held on December 2, 2021, was also intended as form of participations of the people’s movements in Indonesia in support of the Global Week of Action against UPOV. This activity was organized by people’s movements who are members of the People’s Committee for the Transformation of the Food System.

Then, right on December 17, 2021, SPI held a “tumpengan” event, which is an event intended to show gratitude for the birth of UNDROP. Tumpengan itself is a break bread-like tradition in peasant communities in Indonesia to show gratitude for their harvest. In addition to the tumpeng, this activity was also filled with speeches of support from people’s movements both nationally and internationally so that UNDROP could be implemented in Indonesia. The members of La Via Campesina who attended were Morgan Ody (Confederation Paysanne), Elizabeth Mpofu (ZIMSOFF), David Calleb Otieno (Kenyan Peasant League), Anuka (Moonlar), Helio Dias Da Silva (Mokatil) and several solidarity videos from Nury Martinez (FENSUAGRO), Jeongyeol Kim (Korean Women Peasants Association) and allies represented by Shalmali Guttal (Focus on the Global South). Nationally, this activity was attended by the Indonesian Farmers Alliance, the Indonesian Fisherfolk Union, the Indonesian Human Rights Committee for Social Justice, Indonesia for Global Justice and FIAN Indonesia.

The last activity was on December 20, 2021, where SPI held a “Discussion and Launching of the Report on the Situation of Peasants’ Rights in Indonesia 2021”. As one of the efforts to encourage the strengthening UNDROP in Indonesia, SPI is committed to continuing to produce reports that can clearly describe the realization of the fulfilment, protection and respect for peasants’ rights as contained in UNDROP. In general terms, in the report, SPI concludes that there are still rampant violations of peasants’ rights, both to land rights, the right to participate and other rights. In this activity, SPI also invited other people’s movements in Indonesia, such as the Indonesian Human Rights Committee for Social Justice, Indonesia for Global Justice and KOBETA.