Rural women call on the government to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) to protect the rights of small-scale farmworkers.
Women from all over the country who gathered for the South African Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA) land conference in Franschhoek this week are calling on the government to implement the UNDROP resolution. The resolution was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 17 December 2018 and South Africa was one of the first countries to sign on to it.
However, this UN Resolution has yet to be properly implemented and the rights of farmworkers still get violated by various people and groups daily. \”We are being abused, evicted, restricted by quotas and forced to eat GM foods among other things and no one is protecting us.\”
The resolution of the UNDROP reads that: “States shall respect, and take measures to recognize and protect, the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas relating to their traditional knowledge, and eliminate discrimination against the traditional knowledge, practices and technologies of peasants and other people working in rural areas.”
Whilst it is great that the South Africa government promoted this resolution on the Rights of Peasants, why have they never acted on it in South Africa?
Farmworkers and especially women in rural areas, including the fisher communities, remain incredibly vulnerable and are still not offered protection three years after the South African government signed the declaration.
We cannot afford to move slowly in implementing this declaration when people are suffering. Farm evictions are an all too common occurrence, women don’t have full control over the seeds, we still have no land to grow on and the government continues to stand on the sidelines.
The declaration says that The State shall respect, and take measures to recognize and protect the rights of peasants/ small scale farmers.
We demand that these rights be protected.
We demand that immediate action be taken.
We demand that the government give us answers on what progress has been made after they signed the UNDROP!
Yours in Solidarity,
The Rural Women\’s Assembly of South Africa
The women attending the land conference will be available for interviews upon request.
For more information please contact the Communications Team;
Ronel Stevens- 061 495 4662
Matthew Hirsch- 083 290 4145
Aphiwe Ngalo- 073 281 9899
Office: 021 685 3033
saruralwomen@gmail.com
