A/HRC/30/55 I. Introduction 1. The open-ended intergovernmental working group on a draft United Nations declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas (hereinafter, “the working group”) was established by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 21/19 and recalling Council resolutions 13/4, 16/27 and 19/7, with a mandate of negotiating, finalizing and submitting to the Human Rights Council a draft United Nations declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas. Council resolution 26/26 of 23 June 2014 mandated the working group to hold its second session for five working days before the twenty-ninth session of the Council; requested the Chair-Rapporteur of the working group to conduct informal consultations with Governments, relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council, regional groups, intergovernmental organizations, United Nations mechanisms, civil society and representatives of peasants and other people working in rural areas; requested the Chair-Rapporteur of the working group to prepare a new text on the basis of the discussions held during the first session of the working group, the draft declaration presented by the Advisory Committee, and the informal consultations to be held, and present it to the working group at its second session for consideration and further discussion. The resolution also requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide the working group with the human, technical and financial assistance necessary for it to fulfil its mandate; and requested the working group to submit to the Council for consideration at its thirtieth session a report on progress made, which should be published as an official document in all the official languages of the United Nations. 2. Following the resolution, the working group held its second session from 2 to 6 February 2015. 3. The second session was opened by Craig Mokhiber, Chief, Development and Economic and Social Issues Branch on behalf of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 2 February 2015. Mr. Mokhiber noted that people working in rural areas were more vulnerable to emergencies, diseases and conflicts because of the multiple forms of discrimination they faced from long-term failures by States to protect, respect and fulfil their rights. Mr. Mokhiber highlighted that people working in rural areas also faced structural inequalities that often impacted upon small-scale farmers’ abilities to protect agricultural values, determine prices and access markets for agricultural production, as well as to facilitate biological diversity. II Organization of the session A. Election of the Chair-Rapporteur and the Vice-Chair 4. At its second session, on 2 February 2015, the working group re-elected Ms. Navarro Llanos (Plurinational State of Bolivia) as its Chair-Rapporteur, by acclamation. Guatemala, on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean Group, stated that it had nominated Ms. Navarro Llanos based on the leading role of the Plurinational State of Bolivia in moving the working group forward and her leadership in the first session of the working group and intersessional informal consultations. Guatemala further underscored that Ms. Navarro Llanos possessed all the necessary credentials to successfully carry out and accomplish her mandate. 5. Owing to the ill health of Ms. Navarro Llanos, the 5th meeting of the session (3 February 2015, morning) was suspended and the Chair-Rapporteur proposed electing a 3