For the International day of Peasants’ Struggles, La Via Campesina and Defending Peasants’ Rights organized a webinar on the uses of the UN Declaration on Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) in peasant’s struggles since its adoption.
Here are eight instances of how the Declaration is being put to use to advance peasants’ struggles.
INDONESIA: Food Sovereignty Zones, Agrarian Reform and UNDROP
Zainal Arafin Fuad is a member of the Indonesian peasant union Serikat Petani Indonesia. He is also a member of La Via Campesina’s International Coordinating Committee. Zainal took part in a large part of the negotiations for the Declaration. In this video, he presents the progress made in Indonesia since the adoption of UNDROP, in particular the launch of food sovereignty zones by his union.
Colombia: Integrating peasants as subjects of rights in the Colombian Constitution.
Nury Martinez is a member of the Federación Nacional Sindical Unitaria Agropecuaria. She is also a member of La Via Campesina’s International Coordinating Committee. In her presentation, she looks back at the process of integrating peasants as subjects of rights in the Colombian Constitution.
Canada: UNDROP and a Canadian Court Ruling
Jessie MacInnis is Youth President of the National Farmers Union of Canada. She is also a member of La Via Campesina’s youth group. In her talk, she explains a Canadian court ruling based, among other things, on UNDROP.
Kenya: The Struggle against GMOs and UNDROP as a tool
David Cidi Otieno is national convenor of the Kenyan Peasants League. In his talk, he describes, among other things, his organization’s fight to maintain Kenya’s ban on GMOs, and how UNDROP is used in this context.
Congo: UNDROP and the negotiations on the next Agricultural Orientation Law
Hortense Kinkodilla is a member of Coordination Nationale des Organisations Paysannes et des Producteurs Agricoles. She tells us about the initiatives taken by her organization to transmit the Declaration to the peasants of the Congo and their participation in the negotiations on the next Agricultural Orientation Law.
ROMANIA: Peasant Struggles of Eastern Europe and UNDROP
Ramona Dominiciou is a member of the Ecoruralis organization. She took part in the negotiations for UNDROP at the UN Human Rights Council and at European level. In her speech, she recalls the peasants struggles in several Eastern European countries: Romania, Moldavia and Ukraine. She also reviews the concerted efforts of peasants in this region at the FAO.
Nepal: A Peasants’ Right Law to become a reality soon?
Pramesh Pokharel is from the All Nepal Peasant’s Federation of Nepal. He is also a member of La Via Campesina’s Youth International Coordination Committee. He tells us about the progress made for peasants’ rights in Nepal and the ongoing struggle for the approval of a law protecting peasants’ rights, obtained after three years of negotiations in committee.
Switzerland: Friends of the UN Declaration and the struggle for Food Sovereignty
Alberto Silva is a member of the farmers’ union Uniterre. He tells us about the creation of the coalition Friends of the Declaration in Switzerland and the work this coalition of organizations is doing to implement the Declaration.
