Our new Research Brief Switzerland’s Foreign Policy and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants lists actions that countries should take to ensure that their foreign policy is consistent with the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, adopted by the United Nations in 2018.
The recommendations set out in the Research Brief will be relevant to many countries, even if the analysis focuses on Swiss foreign policy.
Switzerland was active during the negotiations and has continued to be since then. The Research Brief – available in English, French and German – focuses on steps that Switzerland should take to ensure that its foreign policy is consistent with the Declaration.
Co-authored by our Senior Research Fellow and Strategic Adviser on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Dr Christophe Golay and Caroline Dommen, Independent Researcher in human rights, economics and sustainable development, the Research Brief recalls that in order to implement the Declaration, Switzerland must ensure that its policies relating to trade, intellectual property and development cooperation are in line with the rights recognized in the Declaration. Based on a series of examples the Research Brief notes that much remains to be done. It offers recommendations to Swiss officials as to steps that should be taken to bring the country’s foreign policy in line with its human rights commitments.
‘Switzerland played a key role during the negotiation of the Declaration. It can and must now position itself as a leader in the Declaration’s implementation. It can do so by supporting, through its foreign policy, the promotion and protection of the rights enshrined in the Declaration both in Switzerland, in other countries, and at the global level’ emphasizes Dr Golay.
The Research Brief, published jointly with the Swiss Coalition of the Friends of the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants, summarizes the main points of a detailed study by the same authors, which is available in French.
