Looking for Strategy for Implementation of UNDROP
June 24, 2019: Yeoido, Seoul
On May 24, KPL News and Nyeoreum Research Institute of Agriculture & Peasant Policy, with the support of peasants movement in Korea including Korean Peasant League (KPL), Korean Women Peasants Association (KWPA), Fimarc Korea (CCFM) and Organic Farmers Korea (OFK) and National Assembly member Young-hoon Oh, organized the launching event of Forum of Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas in Korea. Initiators included not only peasant movement activists but also researchers, lawyers, political party, human-rights activists, CSOs, etc.
The event started with the welcome speech given by Assemblyman Young-hoon Oh and KPL Chair Haeng-deok Park. Secretary-General of National Human Rights Commission of Korea, Young-sun Cho, gave a congratulatory message to the forum promising that the Commission will give support in the future to implement United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People working in the Rural Areas (UNDROP) in the national level.
The second session was the official launching of the Forum. For background information, Jeongyeol Kim, ICC member of La Via Campesina shared the process of UNDROP at the national and international level and Byung-Sun Yoon, professor of Konkuk University, presented the proposal on the establishment of the forum. Based on these inputs, the initiators discussed and passed the bylaws of the forum and elected board members and steering committee members.
The last session was organized with presentation and discussion on the strategy for implementing UNDROP at the national level. Byung-Sun Yoon, an ally researcher to Korean peasants’ movement, shared the background and content of UNDROP and our action plan as the first keynote speech. For second keynote speech, Jeong Yeon Kim, LVC activist representing peasant women in Asia, shared the activities and experience of peasant organizations in other countries related to UNDROP and its implementation. KWPA Secretary General Hwa-young Yu discussed peasant women’s reality and task in terms with the UNDROP. Lastly, Gyung-Cheol Park, researcher of ChungNam Institute shared his previous research on the implementation of UNDROP at the provincial level.
