Demanding protection for rights of rural workers
FIAN International has started a campaign to urge the European Parliament (EP) to protect peasants and other people working in rural areas
October 16, 2013 – FIAN International has written an open letter to the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament (EP) to draw their attention to the on-going negotiation process of a UN Declaration on the Rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Since the protection of the most affected and marginalized people should be at the heart of the human rights agenda and it is key for all states, especially the European Union and its member states to comply with their obligations under international human rights law, FIAN is very concerned about the disproportionally high level of human rights violations suffered by peasants and other people working in rural areas.
In the letter, FIAN urges to include this issue of the rights of peasants and the process underway at the Human Rights Council into the agenda of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament (EP), asks the European Union and its member states to revise their position and to engage in the negotiations, and proposes a resolution to the EP in support of the elaboration of a UN declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas, based on the draft declaration submitted by the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council.
Simultaneously, European sections of FIAN have also started an e-mail action directed to the Committee Members of their respective country, requesting them to follow the above mentioned proposals.