RES/36/22 Promotion and protection of the human rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas

GE.17-17693(E)



Human Rights Council Thirty-sixth session

11–29 September 2017

Agenda item 5

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 29 September 2017

36/22. 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, 26/26 of 27 June 2014 and 30/13 of 1 October

2015 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 unfinished agenda of the Millennium

Development Goals 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, and its resolution 68/231 of 20 December 2013, in which it

declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses,

Taking note of general recommendation No. 34 (2016) on the rights of rural women,

adopted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in March

2016,

Recognizing the important contribution of peasants and other people working in

rural areas to the fight against hunger and the preservation and improvement of

biodiversity, among others, and the need to respect, promote, protect and fulfil their human

rights,

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,

Recognizing also that peasants and other people working in rural areas are often

disproportionally affected by the adverse impact of business activities,

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 reports 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 third and fourth sessions,1 held from 17 to 20 May 2016, and from 15 to 19 May

2017, respectively, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 21/19, 26/26 and 30/13,

and welcoming the constructive negotiation, broad participation and active engagement of

Governments, regional and political groups, civil society, experts, international

organizations and intergovernmental organizations and relevant stakeholders, particularly

representatives of peasants and other people working in rural areas,

Bearing in mind the development of this issue,

1. Decides that the open-ended intergovernmental working group on a United

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

hold its fifth annual session for five working days before the thirty-eighth session of the

Human Rights Council, in accordance with its mandate, to negotiate, finalize and submit to

the Council a draft United Nations declaration on the rights of peasants and other people

working in rural areas;

2. Also decides that the updated version of the draft declaration that will be

presented by the Chair-Rapporteur of the working group at its fifth session, taking into

consideration the report of the Chair-Rapporteur on the fourth session, and the version of

the draft declaration resulting from the fifth session will be translated into all official

languages of the United Nations;

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 fifth session of the working group of up to five

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

1 A/HRC/33/59 and A/HRC/36/58.

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

contribute to the analysis and interactive dialogues;

5. Requests the Secretariat to provide the working group with the human,

technical and financial assistance necessary for it to fulfil its mandate, including by

providing interpretation for one informal intersessional consultation, and a webcast for the

fifth 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 and the General Assembly for their consideration.

41st meeting

29 September 2017

[Adopted by a recorded vote of 34 to 2, with 11 abstentions. The voting was as follows:

In favour:

Bangladesh, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Botswana, Brazil, Burundi,

China, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia,

Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nigeria,

Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia,

South Africa, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela

(Bolivarian Republic of)

Against:

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of

America

Abstaining:

Albania, Belgium, Croatia, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Latvia,

Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Slovenia]