A/HRC/RES/54/9 families that live in the most hostile ecosystems on the planet, and contribute to the fight against hunger, the eradication of extreme poverty, the empowerment of women and the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,3 as well as General Assembly resolution 77/172 of 14 December 2022 on sustainable mountain development, Recalling further the Rome Declaration on Nutrition, which recognizes the important role played by family farmers and smallholders, notably women farmers, and its Framework for Action, which calls for, in its recommendation 9, the strengthening of local food production and processing, especially by smallholders and family farmers, giving special attention to women’s empowerment, and recalling also the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025) and its work programme calling for maximizing the participation of all actors and ensuring that the needs of all people, including peasant farmers, are addressed, Taking note with appreciation of general comment No. 26 (2022) on land and economic, social and cultural rights, of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and general recommendation No. 34 (2016) on the rights of rural women, of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Noting that 2023 marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the thirtieth anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, and acknowledging the importance of these instruments for the promotion and the protection of all human rights, Recognizing the essential contribution of peasants and other people working in rural areas to, inter alia, the fight against hunger and the preservation and improvement of biodiversity, as well as the need to respect, promote, protect and fulfil their human rights, Recognizing also the contribution of peasants and other people working and living in rural areas in all regions of the world to development and in ensuring the rights to food, food security, nutrition and a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, which are fundamental to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals and implementing the 2030 Agenda, Noting with concern that the growing economic and financial burden caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has further exacerbated existing inequalities and exposed others, in particular for rural women and girls, and has increased poverty and hunger, reversed hard-won developmental gains and reduced the chances of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, Stressing the urgent need to mitigate and tackle the negative impact of the COVID19 pandemic on the enjoyment and realization of economic, social and cultural rights, especially for the poor and those in vulnerable and marginalized situations, and to address exacerbated inequalities, Recognizing that livelihoods in rural areas, particularly of rural women and girls, are disproportionately affected by poverty, violence and climate change, as well as by a lack of development, access to safe drinking water and sanitation, access to scientific progress and recognition of peasants’ contribution to science, Concerned about peasants ageing around the world and youth increasingly migrating to urban areas and turning their backs on agriculture owing to the lack of incentives and the drudgery of rural life, and recognizing the need to improve the economic diversification of rural areas and the creation of non-farm opportunities, especially for rural youth, Recognizing that peasants and other people working in rural areas are often disproportionately affected by global financial and economic crises, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, pollution, desertification, and the impact of global climate change, drought and other natural disasters, Gravely concerned that hunger, like poverty, is still predominantly a rural problem, and that in the rural population it is those who produce food who suffer disproportionately, and alarmed that 80 per cent of people suffering from hunger live in rural areas, particularly 3 2 See General Assembly resolution 72/210.