WUNRN
FAO - Food & Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations
On
16 October 2007, FAO will celebrate World Food Day with the theme The Right to
Food
On the eve of the commemoration of 60 years since the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, some rights, like the Right to Food, are overshadowed by those that have received more political and public support, yet severe food insecurity affects at least one-seventh of the world�s human population.
On 16 October 2007, FAO will celebrate World Food Day with the theme The Right to Food. The Right to Food is the right of every person to have regular access to sufficient, nutritionally adequate and culturally acceptable food for an active, healthy life. It is the right to feed oneself in dignity, rather than the right to be fed. With more than 850 million people still deprived of enough food, the Right to Food is not just economically, morally and politically imperative - it is also a legal obligation.
Since 1996, following the World Food Summit, FAO has been working with governments and communities worldwide to gain recognition for this basic human right.
World Food Day activities involving over 150 countries to promote the Right to Food theme, include the 27th World Food Day ceremony at FAO headquarters on 16 October, a Run-for-Food race on 21 October in Rome, a special ceremony at the UN in New York on 18 October, a TeleConference in Washington D.C. and national-level activities including a gala in Spain and musical and sports events in various countries.
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http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/3d02758c707031d58025677f003b73b9?Opendocument
E/C.12/1999/5
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The right to adequate food (Art.11) : . 12/05/99.
E/C.12/1999/5. (General
Comments) |
Convention Abbreviation: CESCR
COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL
AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
Twentieth session
Geneva, 26 April-14 May 1999
Agenda item 7
SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES ARISING IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL
AND CULTURAL RIGHTS:
GENERAL COMMENT 12
The right to adequate food
(Art. 11)
(Twentieth session, 1999) *
Introduction
and basic premises
1. The human
right to adequate food is recognized in several instruments under international
law. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights deals
more comprehensively than any other instrument with this right. Pursuant to
article 11.1 of the Covenant, States parties recognize "the right of
everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family,
including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous
improvement of living conditions", while pursuant to article 11.2 they
recognize that more immediate and urgent steps may be needed to ensure
"the fundamental right to freedom from hunger and malnutrition". The
human right to adequate food is of crucial importance for the enjoyment of all
rights. It applies to everyone; thus the reference in Article 11.1 to
"himself and his family" does not imply any limitation upon the
applicability of this right to individuals or to female-headed households.
2. The
Committee has accumulated significant information pertaining to the right to
adequate food through examination of State parties' reports over the years
since 1979. The Committee has noted that while reporting guidelines are
available relating to the right to adequate food, only few States parties have
provided information sufficient and precise enough to enable the Committee to
determine the prevailing situation in the countries concerned with respect to
this right and to identify the obstacles to its realization. This General
Comment aims to identify some of the principal issues which the Committee
considers to be important in relation to the right to adequate food. Its
preparation was triggered by the request of Member States during the 1996 World
Food Summit, for a better definition of the rights relating to food in article
11 of the Covenant, and by a special request to the Committee to give
particular attention to the Summit Plan of Action in monitoring the
implementation of the specific measures provided for in article 11 of the
Covenant.
3. In
response to these requests, the Committee reviewed the relevant reports and
documentation of the Commission on Human Rights and of the Sub-Commission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on the right to
adequate food as a human right; devoted a day of general discussion to this
issue at its seventeenth session in 1997, taking into consideration the draft
international code of conduct on the human right to adequate food prepared by
international non-governmental organizations; participated in two expert
consultations on the right to adequate food as a human right organized by the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in
Geneva in December 1997, and in Rome in November 1998 co-hosted by the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and noted their final
reports. In April 1999 the Committee participated in a symposium on "The
substance and politics of a human rights approach to food and nutrition
policies and programmes", organized by the Administrative Committee on
Co-ordination/Sub-Committee on Nutrition of the United Nations at its
twenty-sixth session in Geneva and hosted by OHCHR.
4. The
Committee affirms that the right to adequate food is indivisibly linked to the
inherent dignity of the human person and is indispensable for the fulfilment of
other human rights enshrined in the International Bill of Human Rights. It is
also inseparable from social justice, requiring the adoption of appropriate
economic, environmental and social policies, at both the national and
international levels, oriented to the eradication of poverty and the fulfilment
of all human rights for all.
5. Despite
the fact that the international community has frequently reaffirmed the
importance of full respect for the right to adequate food, a disturbing gap
still exists between the standards set in article 11 of the Covenant and the
situation prevailing in many parts of the world. More than 840 million people
throughout the world, most of them in developing countries, are chronically
hungry; millions of people are suffering from famine as the result of natural
disasters, the increasing incidence of civil strife and wars in some regions
and the use of food as a political weapon. The Committee observes that while
the problems of hunger and malnutrition are often particularly acute in
developing countries, malnutrition, under-nutrition and other problems which
relate to the right to adequate food and the right to freedom from hunger, also
exist in some of the most economically developed countries. Fundamentally, the
roots of the problem of hunger and malnutrition are not lack of food but lack
of access to available food, inter alia because of poverty, by
large segments of the world's population
Normative
content of article 11, paragraphs 1 and 2
6. The right
to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child, alone or in
community with others, has physical and economic access at all times to
adequate food or means for its procurement. The right to adequate food
shall therefore not be interpreted in a narrow or restrictive sense which
equates it with a minimum package of calories, proteins and other specific
nutrients. The right to adequate food will have to be realized
progressively. However, States have a core obligation to take the necessary
action to mitigate and alleviate hunger as provided for in paragraph 2 of
article 11, even in times of natural or other disasters.
Adequacy
and sustainability of food availability and access
7. The
concept of adequacy is particularly significant in relation to the right
to food since it serves to underline a number of factors which must be taken
into account in determining whether particular foods or diets that are
accessible can be considered the most appropriate under given circumstances for
the purposes of article 11 of the Covenant. The notion of sustainability
is intrinsically linked to the notion of adequate food or food security,
implying food being accessible for both present and future generations. The
precise meaning of "adequacy" is to a large extent determined by
prevailing social, economic, cultural, climatic, ecological and other
conditions, while "sustainability" incorporates the notion of
long-term availability and accessibility.
8. The
Committee considers that the core content of the right to adequate food
implies:
The
availability of food in a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the
dietary needs of individuals, free from adverse substances, and acceptable
within a given culture;
The
accessibility of such food in ways that are sustainable and that do not
interfere with the enjoyment of other human rights.
9. Dietary
needs implies that the diet as a whole contains a mix of nutrients for
physical and mental growth, development and maintenance, and physical activity
that are in compliance with human physiological needs at all stages throughout
the life cycle and according to gender and occupation. Measures may therefore
need to be taken to maintain, adapt or strengthen dietary diversity and
appropriate consumption and feeding patterns, including breast-feeding, while
ensuring that changes in availability and access to food supply as a minimum do
not negatively affect dietary composition and intake.
10. Free
from adverse substances sets requirements for food safety and for a range
of protective measures by both public and private means to prevent
contamination of foodstuffs through adulteration and/or through bad
environmental hygiene or inappropriate handling at different stages throughout
the food chain; care must also be taken to identify and avoid or destroy
naturally occurring toxins.
11. Cultural
or consumer acceptability implies the need also to take into account, as
far as possible, perceived non nutrient-based values attached to food and food
consumption and informed consumer concerns regarding the nature of accessible
food supplies.
12. Availability
refers to the possibilities either for feeding oneself directly from productive
land or other natural resources, or for well functioning distribution,
processing and market systems that can move food from the site of production to
where it is needed in accordance with demand.
13. Accessibility
encompasses both economic and physical accessibility:
Economic
accessibility implies that personal or household financial costs associated
with the acquisition of food for an adequate diet should be at a level such
that the attainment and satisfaction of other basic needs are not threatened or
compromised. Economic accessibility applies to any acquisition pattern or
entitlement through which people procure their food and is a measure of the
extent to which it is satisfactory for the enjoyment of the right to adequate
food. Socially vulnerable groups such as landless persons and other
particularly impoverished segments of the population may need attention through
special programmes.
Physical
accessibility implies that adequate food must be accessible to everyone,
including physically vulnerable individuals, such as infants and young
children, elderly people, the physically disabled, the terminally ill and
persons with persistent medical problems, including the mentally ill. Victims
of natural disasters, people living in disaster-prone areas and other specially
disadvantaged groups may need special attention and sometimes priority consideration
with respect to accessibility of food. A particular vulnerability is that of
many indigenous population groups whose access to their ancestral lands may be
threatened.
Obligations
and violations
14. The
nature of the legal obligations of States parties are set out in article 2 of
the Covenant and has been dealt with in the Committee's General Comment No. 3
(1990). The principal obligation is to take steps to achieve progressively
the full realization of the right to adequate food. This imposes an obligation
to move as expeditiously as possible towards that goal. Every State is obliged
to ensure for everyone under its jurisdiction access to the minimum essential
food which is sufficient, nutritionally adequate and safe, to ensure their
freedom from hunger.
15. The
right to adequate food, like any other human right, imposes three types or
levels of obligations on States parties: the obligations to respect, to protect
and to fulfil. In turn, the obligation to fulfil incorporates
both an obligation to facilitate and an obligation to provide.
1/
The obligation to respect existing access to adequate food requires
States parties not to take any measures that result in preventing such access.
The obligation to protect requires measures by the State to ensure that
enterprises or individuals do not deprive individuals of their access to
adequate food. The obligation to fulfil (facilitate) means the
State must pro-actively engage in activities intended to strengthen people's
access to and utilization of resources and means to ensure their livelihood,
including food security. Finally, whenever an individual or group is unable,
for reasons beyond their control, to enjoy the right to adequate food by the
means at their disposal, States have the obligation to fulfil (provide) that
right directly. This obligation also applies for persons who are victims of
natural or other disasters.
16. Some
measures at these different levels of obligations of States parties are of a
more immediate nature, while other measures are more of a long-term character,
to achieve progressively the full realization of the right to food.
17.
Violations of the Covenant occur when a State fails to ensure the satisfaction
of, at the very least, the minimum essential level required to be free from
hunger. In determining which actions or omissions amount to a violation of the
right to food, it is important to distinguish the inability from the
unwillingness of a State party to comply. Should a State party argue that
resource constraints make it impossible to provide access to food for those who
are unable by themselves to secure such access, the State has to demonstrate
that every effort has been made to use all the resources at its disposal in an
effort to satisfy, as a matter of priority, those minimum obligations. This
follows from Article 2.1 of the Covenant, which obliges a State party to take
the necessary steps to the maximum of its available resources, as previously
pointed out by the Committee in its General Comment No. 3, paragraph 10. A
State claiming that it is unable to carry out its obligation for reasons beyond
its control therefore has the burden of proving that this is the case and that
it has unsuccessfully sought to obtain international support to ensure the
availability and accessibility of the necessary food.
18.
Furthermore, any discrimination in access to food, as well as to means and
entitlements for its procurement, on the grounds of race, colour, sex,
language, age, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status with the purpose or effect of nullifying or
impairing the equal enjoyment or exercise of economic, social and cultural
rights constitutes a violation of the Covenant.
19.
Violations of the right to food can occur through the direct action of States
or other entities insufficiently regulated by States. These include: the formal
repeal or suspension of legislation necessary for the continued enjoyment of
the right to food; denial of access to food to particular individuals or
groups, whether the discrimination is based on legislation or is pro-active;
the prevention of access to humanitarian food aid in internal conflicts or
other emergency situations; adoption of legislation or policies which are
manifestly incompatible with pre-existing legal obligations relating to the
right to food; and failure to regulate activities of individuals or groups so
as to prevent them from violating the right to food of others, or the failure
of a State to take into account its international legal obligations regarding
the right to food when entering into agreements with other States or with
international organizations.
20. While
only States are parties to the Covenant and are thus ultimately accountable for
compliance with it, all members of society - individuals, families, local
communities, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, as
well as the private business sector - have responsibilities in the realization
of the right to adequate food. The State should provide an environment that
facilitates implementation of these responsibilities. The private business
sector – national and transnational - should pursue its activities within the
framework of a code of conduct conducive to respect of the right to adequate
food, agreed upon jointly with the Government and civil society.
Implementation
at the national level
21. The most
appropriate ways and means of implementing the right to adequate food will
inevitably vary significantly from one State party to another. Every State will
have a margin of discretion in choosing its own approaches, but the Covenant
clearly requires that each State party take whatever steps are necessary to
ensure that everyone is free from hunger and as soon as possible can enjoy the
right to adequate food. This will require the adoption of a national strategy
to ensure food and nutrition security for all, based on human rights principles
that define the objectives, and the formulation of policies and corresponding
benchmarks. It should also identify the resources available to meet the
objectives and the most cost-effective way of using them.
22. The
strategy should be based on a systematic identification of policy measures and
activities relevant to the situation and context, as derived from the normative
content of the right to adequate food and spelled out in relation to the levels
and nature of State parties' obligations referred to in paragraph 15 of the
present general comment. This will facilitate coordination between ministries
and regional and local authorities and ensure that related policies and
administrative decisions are in compliance with the obligations under article
11 of the Covenant.
23. The
formulation and implementation of national strategies for the right to food
requires full compliance with the principles of accountability, transparency,
people's participation, decentralization, legislative capacity and the
independence of the judiciary. Good governance is essential to the realization
of all human rights, including the elimination of poverty and ensuring a
satisfactory livelihood for all.
24.
Appropriate institutional mechanisms should be devised to secure a
representative process towards the formulation of a strategy, drawing on all
available domestic expertise relevant to food and nutrition. The strategy
should set out the responsibilities and time-frame for the implementation of
the necessary measures.
25. The
strategy should address critical issues and measures in regard to all aspects
of the food system, including the production, processing, distribution,
marketing and consumption of safe food, as well as parallel measures in the
fields of health, education, employment and social security. Care should be
taken to ensure the most sustainable management and use of natural and other
resources for food at the national, regional, local and household levels.
26. The
strategy should give particular attention to the need to prevent discrimination
in access to food or resources for food. This should include: guarantees of
full and equal access to economic resources, particularly for women, including
the right to inheritance and the ownership of land and other property, credit,
natural resources and appropriate technology; measures to respect and protect
self-employment and work which provides a remuneration ensuring a decent living
for wage earners and their families (as stipulated in article 7 (a) (ii) of the
Covenant); maintaining registries on rights in land (including forests).
27. As part
of their obligations to protect people's resource base for food, States parties
should take appropriate steps to ensure that activities of the private business
sector and civil society are in conformity with the right to food.
28. Even
where a State faces severe resource constraints, whether caused by a process of
economic adjustment, economic recession, climatic conditions or other factors,
measures should be undertaken to ensure that the right to adequate food is
especially fulfilled for vulnerable population groups and individuals.
Benchmarks
and framework legislation
29. In
implementing the country-specific strategies referred to above, States should
set verifiable benchmarks for subsequent national and international monitoring.
In this connection, States should consider the adoption of a framework law
as a major instrument in the implementation of the national strategy concerning
the right to food. The framework law should include provisions on its purpose;
the targets or goals to be achieved and the time-frame to be set for the
achievement of those targets; the means by which the purpose could be achieved
described in broad terms, in particular the intended collaboration with civil
society and the private sector and with international organizations;
institutional responsibility for the process; and the national mechanisms for
its monitoring, as well as possible recourse procedures. In developing the
benchmarks and framework legislation, States parties should actively involve
civil society organizations.
30.
Appropriate United Nations programmes and agencies should assist, upon request,
in drafting the framework legislation and in reviewing the sectoral
legislation. FAO, for example, has considerable expertise and accumulated
knowledge concerning legislation in the field of food and agriculture. The
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has equivalent expertise concerning
legislation with regard to the right to adequate food for infants and young
children through maternal and child protection including legislation to enable
breast-feeding, and with regard to the regulation of marketing of breast milk
substitutes.
Monitoring
31. States
parties shall develop and maintain mechanisms to monitor progress towards the
realization of the right to adequate food for all, to identify the factors and
difficulties affecting the degree of implementation of their obligations, and
to facilitate the adoption of corrective legislation and administrative
measures, including measures to implement their obligations under articles 2.1
and 23 of the Covenant.
Remedies
and accountability
32. Any
person or group who is a victim of a violation of the right to adequate food
should have access to effective judicial or other appropriate remedies at both
national and international levels. All victims of such violations are entitled
to adequate reparation, which may take the form of restitution, compensation,
satisfaction or guarantees of non-repetition. National Ombudsmen and human
rights commissions should address violations of the right to food.
33. The
incorporation in the domestic legal order of international instruments
recognizing the right to food, or recognition of their applicability, can
significantly enhance the scope and effectiveness of remedial measures and
should be encouraged in all cases. Courts would then be empowered to adjudicate
violations of the core content of the right to food by direct reference to
obligations under the Covenant.
34. Judges
and other members of the legal profession are invited to pay greater attention
to violations of the right to food in the exercise of their functions.
35. States
parties should respect and protect the work of human rights advocates and other
members of civil society who assist vulnerable groups in the realization of
their right to adequate food.
International
obligations
States
parties
36. In the
spirit of article 56 of the Charter of the United Nations, the specific
provisions contained in articles 11, 2.1, and 23 of the Covenant and the Rome
Declaration of the World Food Summit, States parties should recognize the
essential role of international cooperation and comply with their commitment to
take joint and separate action to achieve the full realization of the right to
adequate food. In implementing this commitment, States parties should take
steps to respect the enjoyment of the right to food in other countries, to
protect that right, to facilitate access to food and to provide the necessary
aid when required. States parties should, in international agreements whenever
relevant, ensure that the right to adequate food is given due attention and
consider the development of further international legal instruments to that
end.
37. States
parties should refrain at all times from food embargoes or similar measures
which endanger conditions for food production and access to food in other
countries. Food should never be used as an instrument of political and economic
pressure. In this regard, the Committee recalls its position, stated in its
General Comment No. 8, on the relationship between economic sanctions and
respect for economic, social and cultural rights.
States
and international organizations
38. States have
a joint and individual responsibility, in accordance with the Charter of the
United Nations, to cooperate in providing disaster relief and humanitarian
assistance in times of emergency, including assistance to refugees and
internally displaced persons. Each State should contribute to this task in
accordance with its ability. The role of the World Food Programme (WFP) and the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and
increasingly that of UNICEF and FAO is of particular importance in this respect
and should be strengthened. Priority in food aid should be given to the most
vulnerable populations.
39. Food aid
should, as far as possible, be provided in ways which do not adversely affect
local producers and local markets, and should be organized in ways that
facilitate the return to food self-reliance of the beneficiaries. Such aid
should be based on the needs of the intended beneficiaries. Products included
in international food trade or aid programmes must be safe and culturally
acceptable to the recipient population.
The
United Nations and other international organizations
40. The role
of the United Nations agencies, including through the United Nations
Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) at the country level, in promoting the
realization of the right to food is of special importance. Coordinated efforts
for the realization of the right to food should be maintained to enhance
coherence and interaction among all the actors concerned, including the various
components of civil society. The food organizations, FAO, WFP and the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in conjunction with the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNICEF, the World Bank and the
regional development banks, should cooperate more effectively, building on
their respective expertise, on the implementation of the right to food at the
national level, with due respect to their individual mandates.
41. The
international financial institutions, notably the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Bank, should pay greater attention to the protection of the
right to food in their lending policies and credit agreements and in
international measures to deal with the debt crisis. Care should be taken, in
line with the Committee's General Comment No. 2, paragraph 9, in any structural
adjustment programme to ensure that the right to food is protected.
* Contained in document E/C.12/1999/5.
1/ Originally three levels of obligations were proposed: to
respect, protect and assist/fulfil. (See Right to adequate food as a human
right, Study Series No. 1, New York, 1989 (United Nations publication,
Sales No. E.89.XIV.2).) The intermediate level of "to facilitate" has
been proposed as a Committee category, but the Committee decided to maintain
the three levels of obligation.
©1996-2001
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Geneva, Switzerland
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