Expert Seminar on the Right to Food Sovereignty and Other Collective Rights of Peasants

Philippines, Mindanoa Island, Datu Odin Sinsuat Municipality. Rice fields. Many displaced persons work as daily labourers in rice fields or in coconut plantation to earn some money. Philippines, Mindanoa Island, Datu Odin Sinsuat Municipality. Rice fields. Many displaced persons work as daily labourers in rice fields or in coconut plantation to earn some money.

29 September 2017

Should the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas (UN Declaration) include a right to food sovereignty and other collective rights, such at the right to land and the right to free, prior and informed consent? Is agreed language available to define these rights in the UN Declaration being negotiated at the Human Rights Council (HRC)? How do states' representatives see the future of the negotiation process?

Our expert seminar, co-organized with the Government of Switzerland, the Permanent Mission of Bolivia to the United Nations in Geneva, and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, precisely aims at debating these questions.

Next Friday, at the Palais des Nations, more than 60 participants – academics, experts, states’ representatives and representatives of non-governmental organizations and social movements – will gather to discuss these issues in the context of the current negotiation of the UN Declaration.

This expert seminar will be a new occasion for our Research Fellows Dr Adriana Bessa and Dr Christophe Golay to present our Research Brief on The Right to Land and Other Natural Resources, in which they concluded that ‘the collective dimension of this right is often crucial for small-scale farmers, fisherfolks, pastoralists, hunters and gatherers’.

For Dr Christophe Golay, ‘the right to food sovereignty is one of the most debated rights in the draft UN Declaration, which explains why this expert seminar is very timely, when negotiation on the UN Declaration might enter in its last phase’.

The results of the discussion will feed into the upcoming session of the HRC working group in charge of negotiating the UN Declaration.

About our Research Project on the Rights of Peasants

As human beings, peasants and other people working in rural areas, including those working in small scale and traditional agriculture, fishing, herding and hunting activities, are entitled to all human rights. However, their vulnerability remains a particular concern. They represent 70 percent of people living in extreme poverty and 80 percent of the world’s hungry. Many are victims of multiple discrimination and human rights violations, and are not effectively protected by the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions because they are not engaged in the formal sector.

Our project aims to support efforts to strengthen the promotion and protection of the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas, and in particular to provide expert support to the negotiation of a UN Declaration taking place at the HRC.

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

neurodata graphics News

New Research Brief Evaluates the Effectiveness of GDPR in Mitigating Risks Associated with the Distinctive Nature of Neurodata

21 January 2025

Our recent research brief, Neurodata: Navigating GDPR and AI Act Compliance in the Context of Neurotechnology, examines how effectively GDPR addresses the unique risks posed by neurodata.

Read more

Town Hall Meeting Training

Localizing International Human Rights

8-10 October 2025

This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.

Read more

Training

Human Rights and the Environment: Introducing Legal Regimes and Key Issues

1-8 September 2025

Participants in this training course will be introduced to the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as international environmental law and its implementation and enforcement mechanisms.

Read more

Crops view from the sky Project

The Right to Food in Europe

Started in December 2022

This research will provide legal expertise to a variety of stakeholders on the implementation of the right to food, and on the right to food as a legal basis for just transformation toward sustainable food systems in Europe. It will also identify lessons learned from the 2023 recognition of the right to food in the Constitution of the Canton of Geneva.  

Read more

Session of a UN Treaty Body Project

Treaty Bodies Individual Communications Procedures

Started in January 2019

Read more

Cover of the publication Publication

Briefing N° 25: Localizing Multilateralism

published on March 2025

Domenico Zipoli, Ludovica Chiussi Curzi, Kamelia Kemileva

Read more

Cover page of the working paper Publication

AI Decoded: Key Concepts and Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring

published on January 2025

Milica Mirkovic, Jennifer Victoria Scurrell

Read more