WUNRN
Women & Girls - Food Crisis
- Hunger - Malnutrition - Food Production - Poverty +
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Women
are the world's primary food producers, yet cultural traditions and social
structures often mean women are much more affected by hunger and poverty than
men.
Women produce between 60 and 80 percent of the food in most developing countries and are responsible for half of the world's food production, yet their key role as food producers and providers and their critical contribution to household food security is only now becoming recognized.
FAO studies confirm that while women are the mainstay of small-scale agriculture, farm labour force and day-to-day family subsistence, they have more difficulties than men in gaining access to resources such as land and credit and productivity enhancing inputs and services.
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4."Expresses its concern that
women and girls are disproportionately affected by hunger, food insecurity and
poverty, in part as a result of gender inequality and discrimination, that in
many countries, girls are twice as likely as boys to die from malnutrition and
preventable childhood diseases, and that it is estimated that almost twice as
many women as men suffer from malnutrition;"
5."Encourages all States to
take action to address gender inequality and discrimination against women, in
particular where it contributes to the malnutrition of women and girls,
including measures to ensure the full and equal realization of the right to
food and ensuring that women have equal access to resources, including income,
land and water, to enable them to feed themselves and their families;"
6."Encourages the Special
Rapporteur on the Human Rights Council on the Right to Food, to continue
mainstreaming a gender perspective in the fulfilment of his mandate, and
encourages the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and all
other United Nations bodies and mechanisms addressing the Right to Food and
food insecurity to integrate a gender perspective into their relevant policies,
programmes and activities;"
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Women & Girls - Food Crisis
- Hunger - Malnutrition - Food Production - Poverty +
UN News Centre
BOOSTING FOOD PRODUCTION ALONE WILL
NOT SOLVE HUNGER CRISIS - UN EXPERT
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"POLITICAL
WILL NEEDED TO TACKLE FOOD CRISIS AND RESTRUCTURE AGRICULTURE," WARNS UN
RIGHT TO FOOD EXPERT
18
September 2009
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Mr. Olivier De Schutter, argued on 18 September that “there has not been enough structural change in response to the world food crisis”, as he presented his second report on the emergency to the UN Human Rights Council.
Greater emphasis on right to food
“The right to food is not the right to be fed. It is the right to access the means to produce food or to obtain an income that enables the purchase of adequate food” said Mr. De Schutter. “The international legal framework on the right to food provides operational tools and mechanisms to ensure that public policies are geared towards alleviating hunger and malnutrition and towards building the resilience of the most vulnerable groups against risks, shocks and policy changes.”
“That is different and more effective than the outdated and misplaced emphasis on increasing food production”, said the Special Rapporteur. “As in the case of the financial system, it is the responsibility of policy makers to take the decisions needed to ensure real change. Political will is needed to tackle the structural flaws in the global food system”.
From Geneva to the G20 in Pittsburgh
At a press conference after his appearance before the Council, Mr. De Schutter called for the G20 meeting that will take place in Pittsburgh next week to follow up on the commitment to invest $20 billion in agriculture in poor countries. “G20 leaders must agree on a more ambitious policy agenda. For one billion hungry persons to escape poverty, the initiative announced at L’Aquila can only be a first step. It cannot be the last”, warned Mr. De Schutter.
Despite some progress, the Special Rapporteur remains critical of insufficient international cooperation to address the root causes of hunger, including instability in international agricultural markets. “Nothing has been done to prevent renewed food price increases, while experts warn that climate change will result in more frequent and extreme volatility in international food markets”.
Mr. De Schutter, who started his UN mandate in May 2008 – as food prices peaked - added that “increased investment in agriculture will not benefit small farmers without action to reduce market instability and create an enabling environment”. He emphasized that “small farmers need access to land, credit, storage facilities, research and extension services, and communications as well as support to cooperatives”.
The Way Forward
Mr. De Schutter emphasizes in his report to the Council the need for action in five areas in order to prevent hunger and ensure enjoyment of the right to food:
1) Reducing volatility in international agricultural markets. “There is a clear need to improve the management of grain stocks at global level, to limit speculation”.
2) Encouraging States to build social protection schemes. “A global reinsurance mechanism would create an incentive for robust social protection programmes.”
3) Scaling up sustainable agriculture. “Agro-ecological farming has demonstrated its potential, especially in the difficult environments where vulnerable groups live. We can shape food systems that are productive, create jobs and are environmentally friendly.”
4) Protecting agricultural worker rights. “Farm workers must earn a living wage to get access to food; those working in agriculture are a large part of the hungry.”
5) Reforming global governance for food and agriculture. “We need to set time-bound targets to reduce hunger. A reformed Committee on World Food Security should provide adequate monitoring and guidance to improve international coordination.”
The food crisis is far from over. The FAO has confirmed that the
total number of food insecure people is now above one billion people. Food
prices on local markets remained higher in May 2009 than in May 2008 in more
than forty developing countries, despite the price decreases on international
markets.
Olivier De Schutter was appointed the UN Special Rapporteur on
the right to food in 2008 by the United Nations Human Rights Council. He is
independent from any government or organization. He teaches International Human
Rights Law at the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium).
For additional information on the Special Rapporteur’s
mandate and work, please visit:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/food/index.htm
Summary of the report on the global food crisis: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/food/docs/SRRTFSummarysecondfoodcrisisreport.pdf
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