How can the right to food be implemented at the national level?
The right to food is not primarily the right to be fed after an emergency. It is the right, for all, to have legal frameworks and strategies in place that further the realization of the right to adequate food, as a human right recognized under international law. By directing the adoption of these policies, the right to food is a compass to ensure that policies are geared towards alleviating hunger and malnutrition.
The Special Rapporteur examines these questions in the course of his country missions and in his discussions with the national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights.
The Special Rapporteur also reviewed the implementation of the right to food at national level in Latin America, Africa and Asia in a briefing note published in 2010 ; and he convened regional expert roundtables on this question, first in Bogota in June 2011 for Latin America, secondly in Nairobi in April 2012 for Eastern and Southern Africa, and thirdly in Dakar in June 2013 for West Africa.
| Read | 19/07/2013: 'Engagements des participants pour faire progresser le droit à l’alimentation en Afrique de l’Ouest' Register of Commitments from the regional consultation in Dakar on the right to food in West Africa (June 13-14). |
| Read | 13/06/2013: Des paroles aux actes : Le long chemin de la mise en œuvre du droit à l’alimentation en Afrique de l’Ouest' Background note for the regional consultation in Dakar on the right to food in West Africa(June 13-14). |
| Read | 20/07/2012: The SR's address to the opening session of the Regional Food Security and Nutrition Council (CONSAN) established by the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), also available in Portuguese. |
| Read | 20/06/2012: "From Charity to Entitlement: Implementing the right to food in Southern and Eastern Africa", Briefing note by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food |
| Read | 18/06/2012: Register of Commitments from the Expert Meeting on Implementing the Right to Food in Eastern and Southern Africa (4-5 April 2012). |
| Read | 16/05/2012, Ottawa/Geneva: Canada: national food strategy can eradicate hunger amidst plenty – UN rights expert |
| Read | End of mission statement ‘Mission to Canada’, from 5 to 16 May 2012 |
| Read | 08/03/2012, Geneva: “Unfinished progress” – UN expert examines food systems in emerging countries |
| Read | Background Note "The contribution of the right to food to combating hunger and malnutrition: what it means and why it matters", October 2011. |
| Read | Preliminary conclusions ‘Mission to China’, from 15 to 23 December 2010 (also available in chinese) |
| Read | Report ‘Mission to Syria’, presented to the Human Rights Council [A/HRC/16/49/Add.2], March 2011 (soon available in arabic) |
| Read | Briefing Note "Countries tackling hunger with a right to food approach. Significant progress in implementing the right to food at national scale in Africa, Latin America and South Asia", May 2010. |
| Read | Report ‘Mission to Benin’ presented to the Human Rights Council [A/HRC/13/33/Add.3], March 2010 |
| Read | Report ‘Mission to Brazil’ presented to the Human Rights Council [A/HRC/13/33/Add.6], March 2010 (also available in Portuguese) |
| Read | Report ‘Mission to Guatemala’ presented to the Human Rights Council [A/HRC/13/33/Add.4], March 2010 |
| Read | Report ‘Mission to Nicaragua’ presented to the Human Rights Council [A/HRC/13/33/Add.5], March 2010 |