A/HRC/36/58 Article 16 Right to decent income and livelihood and means of production It has been recognized as a right at least for women in article 14 of CEDAW. Article 14 on rural women recognizes as a right several elements that are found in the proposed article 16. Guideline 8 on access to resources and assets of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the right to food also takes up numerous elements from that article. Prices Various national constitutions have relevant norms on price-setting (e.g. article 119 of the Constitution of Guatemala, article 39(c) of the Constitution of India, article 187 of the Constitution of Brazil) which would allow the kind of measure under article 16(3) to be considered, when read consistently with the obligations of States in relation to human rights. In case where constitutions stipulate that free market system prevails, they usually include safeguards allowing for exceptional measures in the market economy in order to support peasant enterprises. Wording could be considered to make it clear that States can adopt certain safeguards in price regulation and setting to guarantee that there is adequate income for peasants and small-scale producers in rural areas. Article 17 Right to land In colonial systems, the relationship between people and land was restricted by civil code and other regulations which was limited to the right to ownership and omitted other frameworks in particular the different relationships people have with land: the way they accede to it, use it and manage it as well as the way in which they use the benefits of the land. The declaration is a remarkable opportunity to recognize different forms of relationship with land, without denying the right to ownership. Certain jurisprudence extends its understanding of land ownership to traditional forms of tenure. The declaration ought to recognize what are objective and subjective entitlements. Other UN organizations have recognized this need. Access to land is just one aspect of the issue. A most important element is security of tenure. The declaration cannot just be limited to access to land and ignore the issue of tenure, a vital aspect of the proposed wording. Recognizing the right to land would not cause new conflicts. It would provide with a legal framework for settling pre-existing conflicts between different communities. Article 18 Right to the environment The right to the environment is recognized in five times more constitutions that the right to food, while the latter is not questioned. Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the right to health refers to the improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene. It is not a question of access, rather a right to healthy and cleaning environment. This is also the sense of the Protocol of San Salvador and other regional instruments. Paragraph 2 could be reformulated as follows “peasants and other persons working in rural areas have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of the land and other natural resources that they use, manage and control”. Article 19 Right to seed 80

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