[7 September 2010] DAMASCUS – The UN Special Rapporteur on right to food estimates that today, following four years of severe drought in the north-eastern part of the country, between two to three million people may be considered food insecure in Syria. He applauded the efforts of the Government of Syria in seeking to provide food security to its population, including through providing subsidized basic food items and support to its agricultural sector. But Syria faces huge challenges, both because of climate change and because of the large influx of Iraqi refugees and the occupation of the Golan.
At the end of the first mission of a UN Special Rapporteur to Syria, Mr. De Schutter stressed that “a rights-based approach should be integrated into the Government’s policies and programmes to tackle hunger and malnutrition. Unfortunately, no appropriate mapping of food insecurity and vulnerability exists in Syria. This presents obstacles in targeting policies to reach the poorest and most vulnerable in society,” said Mr. De Schutter, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council as an independent expert to monitor the right to food.
| ReadPDF | Press release “Two to three million Syrians face food insecurity”, september 2010. (also available in arabic) |
| ReadPDF | Preliminary conclusions ‘Mission to Syria’, from 29 August to 7 September 2010 (also available in arabic) |