RES/30/13 Promotion and protection of the human rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas

Human Rights Council Thirtieth session

Agenda item 5

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 1 October 2015

30/13. Promotion and protection of the human rights of peasants

and other people working in rural areas

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Determined to foster strict respect for the purposes and principles enshrined in the

Charter of the United Nations,

Recalling the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and

the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

Recalling also the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and all other

relevant human rights instruments,

Recalling further Human Rights Council resolutions 13/4 of 24 March 2010, 16/27

of 25 March 2011 and 19/7 of 22 March 2012 on the right to food, and in particular Council

resolutions 21/19 of 27 September 2012 and 26/26 of 27 June 2014 on the promotion and

protection of the human rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas,

Underlining the imperative need to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by

2015 in order to contribute to making the right to development a reality for everyone, and

welcoming the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,

Welcoming General Assembly resolution 66/222 of 22 December 2011, in which the

Assembly declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming, and welcoming also its

resolution 68/232 of 20 December 2013, in which the Assembly declared 2015 the

International Year of Soils,

Gravely concerned that hunger, like poverty, is still predominantly a rural problem,

and that in the rural population it is those who produce food who suffer disproportionately,

and alarmed that 75 per cent of people suffering from hunger live in rural areas, particularly

in developing countries, and 50 per cent are small-scale and traditional farm holders, as

well as subsistence farmers, and that they are especially vulnerable to food insecurity,

malnutrition, discrimination and exploitation,

Recognizing that livelihoods in rural areas are disproportionately affected by

poverty, climate change, lack of development and lack of access to scientific progress,

Convinced of the need to strengthen the protection and realization of the human

rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas,

Welcoming the report of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on a

United Nations declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas

on its second session,A/HRC/30/55. held from 2 to 6 February 2015, pursuant to Human Rights Council

resolutions 21/19 and 26/26, and in particular the inputs from Governments, regional

groups, civil society and relevant stakeholders,

Bearing in mind the development of this issue,

1. Decides that the working group with the mandate to negotiate, finalize and

submit to the Human Rights Council a draft United Nations declaration on the rights of

peasants and other people working in rural areas shall hold its next two annual sessions for

five working days each before the thirty-sixth session of the Council;

2. Also decides that the draft declaration presented by the Chair-Rapporteur of

the working group at its second session will be translated in all official languages of the

United Nations, and that negotiations during the third session of the working group shall be

held on this basis, taking into consideration the report of the Chair-Rapporteur on the

second session;

3. Requests the Chair-Rapporteur of the working group to conduct informal

consultations during the intersessional periods, as appropriate, with Governments, relevant

special procedures of the Human Rights Council, regional groups, intergovernmental

organizations, United Nations mechanisms, civil society and representatives of peasants

and other people working in rural areas, as well as with other relevant stakeholders and

other relevant specialized agencies of the United Nations system;

4. Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human

Rights to ensure the participation in the annual sessions of the working group of up to five

expert panellists, including representatives of peasants and other people working in rural

areas, civil society and grass-roots organizations from developing countries, in order to

contribute to the analysis and interactive dialogues;

5. Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to provide the working

group with the human, technical and financial assistance necessary for it to fulfil its

mandate, and to prepare a background study for the working group in relation to the rights

included in the draft declaration before the third session of the working group;

6. Invites States, civil society and all relevant stakeholders, in particular

representatives of peasants and other people working in rural areas, to contribute actively

and constructively to the work of the working group;

7. Requests the working group to submit an annual report on progress made to

the Human Rights Council for its consideration.

41st meeting

1 October 2015

[Adopted by a recorded vote of 31 to 1, with 15 abstentions. The voting was as follows:

In favour:

Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Botswana,

Brazil, China, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Gabon,

Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Maldives, Morocco, Namibia,

Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone,

South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of),

Viet Nam

Against:

United States of America

Abstaining:

Albania, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Mexico,

Montenegro, Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, the former

Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United Kingdom of Great Britain and

Northern Ireland]