UN Working Group on the rights of peasants to conduct first visit to Ghana

The UN Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas will conduct its first official country visit to Ghana from 5 to 14 May 2026 to assess the country’s human rights situation in relation to peasants, including small scale farmers, fisherfolk and pastoralists.

The Working Group will visit at the invitation of the Government.

The Working Group hopes to understand the challenges and opportunities facing peasants, fisherfolk, pastoralists and other people working in rural areas in Ghana.

They noted that peasant rights contained in the United Nations Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas (UNDROP) are comprehensive, and the Working Group will work to find ways to ensure they are respected, protected and fulfilled.

In Ghana, the Working Group will meet with peasant communities, including farmers, fisherfolk and others, and government authorities, civil society and other UNDROP stakeholders.

The experts will hold a news conference on 14 May 2026 at 10:30 a.m. at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office to share their preliminary findings and recommendations. Access will be strictly limited to journalists.

The Working Group will present a comprehensive report with its findings and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2026.

The Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas

Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.

Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/

UN Human Rights, country page – Ghana