24 hours after the historical decision by the Third Committee (on cultural, social and humanitarian aspects) of the United Nations General Assembly in favor of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, the representative of Vía Campesina, [1] Diego Montón, assessed from New York the process and its final outcome.
The draft resolution, promoted by Via Campesina, was submitted first before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, and on Monday 19th it was approved with 119 votes in favor and just 7 against it*. The promoters of the declaration were Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Portugal, South Africa and Venezuela.
SEE THE STATEMENT IN UN OFFICIAL LANGUAGES HERE. [2]
Montón believes that this process also had as a result a series of breakthroughs, such as the booming popular and peasant movement in Eastern Europe, which finds many similarities with the situation experienced in Latin America.
SEE THE COMMITTEE´S DEBATE ABOUT THE DECLARATION HERE. [3]
“In Latin America, this Declaration came just in time, as we see a breakdown of capitalism that translates into violence and the interest of privatizing the territories and food”, said Diego Montón, in the interview with Real World Radio from New York.
“The Declaration promotes food sovereignty and supports the development and implementation of socio-economic policies that will improve the food and agricultural system, as a result it will pave the way for the creation of public policies in favor of peasants and rural workers in countries where such policies do not exist”, said Montón.
The declaration will be formally ratified by the General Assembly in December 2018.
Votes:
AGAINST (7): Australia, Hungary, Israel, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States
ABSTENTIONS (49): Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Palau, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, The FYR Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine
IN FAVOR (119): Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua-Barbuda, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brunei, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic PR of Korea, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Moldova, Rwanda, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad-Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
COUNTRIES THAT DID NOT VOTE (18): Burkina Fasso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Eswatini, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Sao Tome-Principe, Somalia, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Vanuatu