United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants
and Other People Working in Rural Areas
A/RES/73/165
relies significantly, though not necessarily exclusively, on family or household labour
and other non-monetized ways of organizing labour, and who has a special
dependency on and attachment to the land.
2.
The present Declaration applies to any person engaged in artisanal or smallscale agriculture, crop planting, livestock raising, pastoralism, fishing, forestry,
hunting or gathering, and handicrafts related to agriculture or a related occupation in
a rural area. It also applies to dependent family member s of peasants.
3.
The present Declaration also applies to indigenous peoples and local
communities working on the land, transhumant, nomadic and semi -nomadic
communities, and the landless engaged in the above-mentioned activities.
4.
The present Declaration further applies to hired workers, including all migrant
workers regardless of their migration status, and seasonal workers, on plantations,
agricultural farms, forests and farms in aquaculture and in agro -industrial enterprises.
Article 2
1.
States shall respect, protect and fulfil the rights of peasants and other people
working in rural areas. They shall promptly take legislative, administrative and other
appropriate steps to achieve progressively the full realization of the rights set forth in
the present Declaration that cannot be immediately guaranteed.
2.
Particular attention shall be paid in the implementation of the present
Declaration to the rights and special needs of peasants and other people working in
rural areas, including older persons, women, youth, children and persons with
disabilities, taking into account the need to address multiple forms of discrimination.
3.
Without disregarding specific legislation on indigenous peoples, before
adopting and implementing legislation and policies, international agreements and
other decision-making processes that may affect the rights of peasants and other
people working in rural areas, States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with
peasants and other people working in rural areas through their own representative
institutions, engaging with and seeking the support of peasants and other people
working in rural areas who could be affected by decisions before those decisions are
made, and responding to their contributions, taking into considerat ion existing power
imbalances between different parties and ensuring active, free, effective, meaningful
and informed participation of individuals and groups in associated decision -making
processes.
4.
States shall elaborate, interpret and apply relevant international agreements and
standards to which they are a party in a manner consistent with their human rights
obligations as applicable to peasants and other people working in rural areas.
5.
States shall take all necessary measures to ensure that non-State actors that they
are in a position to regulate, such as private individuals and organizations, and
transnational corporations and other business enterprises, respect and strengthen the
rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas.
6.
States, recognizing the importance of international cooperation in support of
national efforts for the realization of the purposes and objectives of the present
Declaration, shall take appropriate and effective measures in this regard, between and
among States and, as appropriate, in partnership with relevant international and
regional organizations and civil society, in particular organizations of peasants and
other people working in rural areas, among others. Such measures could include:
(a) Ensuring that relevant international cooperation, including international
development programmes, is inclusive, accessible and pertinent to peasants and other
people working in rural areas;
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