United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas A/RES/73/165 Article 23 1. Peasants and other people working in rural areas have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. They also have the right to have access, without any discrimination, to all social and health services. 2. Peasants and other people working in rural areas have the right to use and protect their traditional medicines and to maintain their health practices, including access to and conservation of their plants, animals and minerals for medicinal use. 3. States shall guarantee access to health facilities, goods and services in rural areas on a non-discriminatory basis, especially for groups in vulnerable situations, access to essential medicines, immunization against major infectious diseases, reproductive health, information concerning the main health problems affecting the community, including methods of preventing and controlling them, maternal and child health care, as well as training for health personnel, including education on health and human rights. Article 24 1. Peasants and other people working in rural areas have the right to adequate housing. They have the right to sustain a secure home and community in which to live in peace and dignity, and the right to non-discrimination in this context. 2. Peasants and other people working in rural areas have the right to be protected against forced eviction from their home, harassment and other threats. 3. States shall not, arbitrarily or unlawfully, either temporarily or permanently, remove peasants or other people working in rural areas against their will from the homes or land that they occupy without providing or affording access to appropriate forms of legal or other protection. When eviction is unavoidable, the State must provide or ensure fair and just compensation for any material or other losses. Article 25 1. Peasants and other people working in rural areas have the right to adequate training suited to the specific agroecological, sociocultural and economic environments in which they find themselves. Issues covered by training programmes should include, but not be limited to, improving productivity, marketing and the ability to cope with pests, pathogens, system shocks, the effects of chemicals, climate change and weather-related events. 2. All children of peasants and other people working in rural areas have the right to education in accordance with their culture and with all the rights contained in human rights instruments. 3. States shall encourage equitable and participatory farmer-scientist partnerships, such as farmer field schools, participatory plant breeding and plant and animal health clinics, to respond more appropriately to the immediate and emerging challenges that peasants and other people working in rural areas face. 4. States shall invest in providing training, market information and advisory services at the farm level. Article 26 1. Peasants and other people working in rural areas have the right to enjoy the ir own culture and to pursue freely their cultural development, without interference or any form of discrimination. They also have the right to maintain, express, control, protect and develop their traditional and local knowledge, such as ways of life, 16/17 18-22260