A/HRC/33/59 I. Introduction 1. The open-ended intergovernmental working group on a United Nations declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas was established by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 21/19. The working group has a mandate to negotiate, finalize and submit, to the Council, a draft declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas. In its resolution 30/13 of 1 October 2015, the Council decided that the working group would hold its next two annual sessions for five working days each before the thirty-sixth session of the Council. The working group held its third session from 17 to 20 May 2016. 2. The third session was opened by Jyoti Sanghera, on behalf of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Ms. Sanghera noted the recent conclusion of the global climate agreement adopted in Paris in 2015, and the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She emphasized the importance of building food systems that moved away from fossil fuels and were resilient to extreme climate conditions, and noted the relevance of several Sustainable Development Goals and targets for peasants and other people working in rural areas. Ms. Sanghera recalled normative developments in other United Nations bodies, such as the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, which had been endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security in 2012. She expressed the view that the working group could guide the international community by contributing to the development of a set of specific human rights protections to address the vulnerabilities faced by those working in rural areas. II. Organization of the session A. Election of the Chair-Rapporteur 3. At its third session, the working group elected Nardi Suxo Iturry (Plurinational State of Bolivia) as its Chair-Rapporteur, on the nomination of Latin American and Caribbean States, represented by Honduras. B. Attendance 4. Representatives of the following States Members of the United Nations attended the third session of the working group: Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Togo, Tunisia, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) and Zambia. 5. The following non-Member States were represented as observers: Holy See and Palestine. 3