ICRC
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.
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.
GANHRI
Via its DHRTTDs Directory, the Geneva Human Rights Platform provides a comprehensive list and description of such key tools and databases. But how to navigate them? Which tool should be used for what, and by whom? This interview helps us understand better the specificities of the current highlight of the directory: NHRI Accreditation Database
Wikimedia
Our latest research brief, 'Sending Up a Flare: Autonomous Weapons Systems Proliferation Risks to Human Rights and International Security' examines the proliferation of autonomous weapons systems and consequent risks to security and human rights.
Geneva Academy
This public event, addressing the international community in and outside Geneva will highlight and discuss current issues and challenges in the work of Geneva-based actors, as they relate to human rights.
Adobe
This one-hour side-event to the 57th session of the Human Rights Council aims to showcase the transformative potential of digital technologies in advancing human rights and SDG monitoring.
Adobe
This training course will examine how the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights have been utilized to advance the concept of business respect for human rights throughout the UN system, the impact of the Guiding Principles on other international organizations, as well as the impact of standards and guidance developed by these different bodies.
Adobe
Participants in this training course, made of two modules, will examine the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights and the environment, familiarizing themselves with the respective implementation and enforcement mechanisms.
UNAMID
This project will develop guidance to inform security, human rights and environmental debates on the linkages between environmental rights and conflict, and how their better management can serve as a tool in conflict prevention, resilience and early warning.
Daniel Taylor
The project will notably identify the main opportunities and obstacles to protect the right to seeds in Europe. It will also discuss how to promote changes in European laws, policies and trade agreements to ensure that they do not infringe, but facilitate the realization of peasants’ right to seeds.
Geneva Academy