A PRIMER TO THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD LESSON 6. THE RIGHT TO FOOD GUIDELINES

Transcription

1 A PRIMER TO THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD LESSON 6. THE RIGHT TO FOOD GUIDELINES NOTE Please note that this PDF version does not have the interactive features offered through the courseware interface such as exercises with feedback, pop-ups, animations etc. We recommend that you take the lesson using the interactive courseware environment, and use the PDF version for printing the lesson and to use as a reference after you have completed the course. page 1

2 Learning Objectives At the end of this lesson, you will be able to: understand the relevance of the Right to Food Guidelines as a tool to support the progressive realization of the right to food; and understand what the Right to Food Guidelines mean for different users. "Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security" Introduction The unanimous adoption by the FAO Council of the Right to Food Guidelines in 2004 represents a major step in breaking new ground in the area of implementation of the right to food. For the first time in history governments met, together with international agencies and relevant stakeholders, to discuss the implementation of the right to food at the national level. The successful adoption of the Right to Food Guidelines feeds into FAO s mandate which includes ensuring humanity's freedom from hunger recalled through specific time framed goals by the World Food Summit and the Millennium Development Goals. page 2

3 World Food Summit: five years later In the Declaration International Alliance against Hunger, adopted at the WFS: five years later in June 2002, the Heads of State and Government invited the FAO Council to establish an Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) to elaborate in a period of two years a set of voluntary guidelines to support the progressive realization of the right to food. The Right to Food Guidelines were adopted by the FAO Council in November For more information on IGWG sessions, please see: /highlight_51631en.html Why the Need for Right to Food Guidelines In your opinion, what was the objective for developing guidelines on the right to food? To illustrate to governments the normative content of the right to food. To provide guidance to governments on how to progressively implement the right to food. Please select the answer of your choice page 3

4 Why the Need for Right to Food Guidelines The value of the Right to Food Guidelines is that they have moved to a more practical application of the right to food concept. In fact, they: cover all necessary elements of a sound food security strategy and processes; promote a framework for cross-sectoral coordination; translate human rights principles into concrete recommendations for action; and provide a basis for advocating for more equitable policies and programs. Intergovernmental Working Group - IGWG The IGWG was established by the FAO Council as a subsidiary of the Committee on World Food Security. Members of the IGWG included Members of FAO and of the UN at large. Stakeholders participated actively in the discussions, in particular relevant international organizations, regional institutions, NGOs and academic institutions. A close working relationship was established with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and with other Rome based agencies: the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). page 4

5 IGWG Members Let s consider the role of participants to the IGWG sessions. Even if there was a strong collaboration with various stakeholders, decision making power was reserved to IGWG members, that is: UN organizations NGOs Member States of the UN and FAO Please select the answer of your choice Nature of the Guidelines The Right to Food Guidelines are voluntary and non-legally binding, although they build on international law and provide guidance on implementation of already existing obligations. They are addressed to all States, but are also an advocacy tool for all stakeholders wishing to encourage better implementation of the right to food at the national level. The Right to Food Guidelines stress human rights principles and seek to strengthen good governance and people s capacity building. page 5

6 Nature of the Guidelines Through the Right to Food Guidelines, Governments interpret the right to food and recommend actions to be undertaken for its realization. The guidelines are addressed to: All States States that have ratified the ICESCR Developing countries Please select the answer of your choice Content Let s now have a look at the content. The Right to Food Guidelines are structured into three main sections: SECTION SECTION I I Preface Preface and and Introduction Introduction SECTION II Enabling Environment, Assistance and Accountability Section I - Preface and Introduction The text of major international legal instruments is recalled and definitions of food security, the right to food and human rights approaches are provided. See Section I SECTION III International Measures, Actions and Commitments Click on each section to know what it contains page 6

7 Content The Guidelines are structured into three main sections: SECTION I Preface and Introduction SECTION SECTION II II Enabling Enabling Environment, Environment, Assistance Assistance and and Accountability Accountability SECTION III International Measures, Actions and Commitments Section II - Enabling Environment, Assistance and Accountability Section II contains 19 provisions through which the Right to Food Guidelines provide practical guidance to States on using human rights for achieving food security. See Section II Please select the answer of your choice Content The Guidelines are structured into three main sections: SECTION I Preface and Introduction SECTION II Enabling Environment, Assistance and Accountability SECTION SECTION III III International International Measures, Measures, Actions Actions and and Commitments Commitments Section III reflects agreement on aspects of the international environment to be considered when addressing right to food at national level. The language stems from agreed text in other fora such as the Monterrey consensus on financing for development, the Doha Declaration on a new development round in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and resolutions of the General Assembly and FAO). It covers the following topics: - International cooperation and unilateral measures - Role of the international community - Technical cooperation - International trade - External debt - Official development assistance - International food aid - Partnerships with NGOs/CSOs/private sector - Promotion and protection of the right to adequate food - International reporting See Section III Please select the answer of your choice page 7

8 Content More specifically, Section II includes the following 19 guidelines: Guideline 1: Democracy, good governance, human rights and the rule of law Guideline 1 focuses on the elements necessary for a free and democratic society to provide a peaceful, stable and enabling environment in which individuals can feed themselves and their families in freedom and dignity. Read Guideline 1 Guideline 2: Economic Development Policies It focuses on promoting sustainable, broad-based economic development in support of food security based on an assessment of the economic and social situation and the degree of food insecurity and its causes. Policies should be sound, inclusive and non-discriminatory. The need to focus on agriculture and rural development in emphasized when poverty is predominantly a rural phenomenon. Due regard is also given to the growing problem of urban poverty. Read Guideline 2 Guideline3: Strategies It encourages states to consider adopting a national human rights- based strategy for the right to food based on a thorough assessment of legal, policy and institutional frameworks. It calls for a human rights perspective to be incorporated into existing strategies, which should be transparent, inclusive and comprehensive and be elaborated in a participatory manner. Read Guideline 3 page 8

9 Guideline 4: Market Systems It stresses improvements in the functioning of markets to promote economic growth and sustainable development. Non-discriminatory access to markets should be ensured. The state obligation to protect rights holders is stressed as in the state responsibility, among others, to prevent uncompetitive market practices and to seek the commitment of all market players to realize the right to food through policies that foster food security. Read Guideline 4 Guideline 5: Institutions It stresses the importance of public institutions at all levels and suggests entrusting a specific institution to coordinate the application of the Right to Food Guidelines. Read Guideline 5 Guideline 6: Stakeholders It encourages a multi-stakeholder approach to national food security with full participation of civil society and the private sector. Read Guideline 6 Guideline 7: Legal Framework It focuses on legal measures and instruments to support implementation of the progressive realization of the right to food and judicial and quasi-judicial remedies when this right is violated. Read Guideline 7 page 9

10 Guideline 8: Access to Resources and Assets It discusses the obligation of the state to respect and protect the rights of individuals regarding access to natural resources, and facilitate sustainable, non-discriminatory and secure access to such resources, if need be by undertaking land reform. The guidelines make recommendations on labor, land, water, genetic resources, sustainability and services. Read Guideline 8 Guideline 9: Food Safety and Consumer Protection It focuses on both legal and institutional arrangements to ensure food safety and consumer protection, whether through domestic production or imports. Read Guideline 9 Guideline 10: Nutrition It promotes strengthening dietary diversity and healthy eating habits and food preparation to prevent malnutrition. Changes in availability and access to food should not negatively affect dietary composition or intake. Cultural values as well as dietary and eating habits should be taken into account when making policy and programme decisions. Read Guideline 10 Guideline 11: Education and Awareness Raising It focuses on strengthening education and training opportunities, especially for girls and women, to support sustainable development. Human rights education should be integrated into school curricula and officials and members of civil society trained to participate in the progressive realization of the right to food. Read Guideline 11 page 10

11 Guideline 12: National Financial resources It encourages allocation of budgetary resources to anti-hunger and poverty programmes. Basic and social programmes and expenditures should be protected from budget reductions. Read Guideline 12 Guideline 13: Support for Vulnerable Groups It emphasizes the need to identify the food insecure, along with reasons for their food insecurity, and to devise measures to immediately and progressively provide access to adequate food. Discrimination against specific groups should be overcome and assistance should be targeted effectively. Read Guideline 13 Guideline 14: Safety Nets It recommends that safety nets be established and maintained to provide for the weakest segments of society. Safety nets should be accompanied by complementary measures, such as access to clean water and sanitation, health care and nutrition education, in order to promote sustainable food security in the long run. Read Guideline 14 Guideline 15: International Food Aid It stresses that food aid should be safe and take into account dietary and cultural food consumption patterns. Food aid programmes should not disrupt local food production or markets and should avoid creating dependency by having a clear exit strategy. Humanitarian agencies should be guaranteed safe and unimpeded access to needy populations. Emergency food aid should also take into account long-term relief and rehabilitation objectives. Read Guideline 15 page 11

12 Guideline 16: Natural and human-made disasters It recalls certain provisions of international humanitarian law with regard to the destruction or withholding of food as a method of warfare. It also emphasizes the importance of comprehensive early warning systems and effective natural disaster response mechanisms. Read Guideline 16 Guideline 17: Monitoring, Indicators and Benchmarks It points to the need to establish systems to monitor and evaluate the realization of the right to food, especially with regard to vulnerable groups such as women, children and the elderly. Read Guideline 17 Guideline 18: National Human Rights Institutions It suggests that national human rights institutions be independent and autonomous and include the right to food in their mandate. States without such institutions are encouraged to establish them. Read Guideline 18 Guideline 19: International Dimension It encourages states to fulfill measures, actions and commitments that have been endorsed at the international level, as listed under Section III of the Right to Food Guidelines. Read Guideline 19 page 12

13 Content NATIONAL POLICIES The Right to Food Guidelines touch upon political and development issues, tracing possible strategies and priority fields of action to overcome hunger and malnutrition by implementing the right to food. They apply the definition of the right to food to concrete areas of national policies which play a role in the achievement of food security (such as economic development, market systems, agriculture, nutrition, social policy, education and emergency measures in food crises). Practical steps indicated by the Guidelines Among practical steps indicated by the Guidelines, is the identification of reasons for hunger, malnutrition and vulnerable groups. According to their specific situation, states should then develop adequate strategies, policies and programs, which best fit their own institutional and financial possibilities. States should also make a review of their existing national legislation in order to identify inefficient or redundant laws or programs and to identify where better coordination is needed. Content The Right to Food Guidelines stress that individuals have a right to an enabling environment in which they can provide for their own needs and those of their families, including food, in freedom and dignity. ENABLING ENVIRONMENT Healthy and educated persons who enjoy economic freedom and access to jobs and resources have most of the ingredients for being able to enjoy the right to food. The availability and access to safe and nutritious food can be assured through the market. Well-informed consumers can make the right choices for optimum nutrition. page 13

14 Content The Right to Food Guidelines advocate for effectively targeted assistance for the food insecure. The needs of vulnerable groups should be addressed to devise appropriate measures. Safety nets should be accompanied by complementary measures in order to promote sustainable food security in the long run. At the international level, food assistance should be provided taking into account dietary and cultural food consumption patterns and avoiding creation of dependency by having a clear exit strategy. VULNERABILITY Content The Right to Food Guidelines emphasize accountability by inviting states to include provisions in their domestic laws that facilitate the realization of the right to food. Mechanism should be put in place to monitor and evaluate the realization of the right to food, especially with regard to vulnerable groups. At the same time national human rights institutions should be set up as independent and autonomous bodies including the right to food in their mandate. Moreover, administrative, quasi-judicial and judicial mechanism should be envisaged to provide adequate, effective and prompt remedies for violations. ACCOUNTABILITY page 14

15 Using the Right to Food Guidelines The Right to Food Guidelines can be used as a reference when elaborating national strategies and policy programmes, as well as for monitoring state performance and elaborating a framework legislation. They provide practical indications for different stages of the realization of the right to food, in particular in the areas of: Democracy and the rule of law States should: promote democracy, the rule of law, sustainable development and good governance; empower individuals and civil society to make demands on their governments; and ensure governments transparency in implementing policies that address specific needs. Relevant Guidelines Pass the mouse over the highlighted buttons to read guidelines titles What are the Guidelines meant for Policies and strategies States need to create an enabling environment for individuals to realize their right to food. The Right to Food Guidelines suggest that this can be done by adopting a national humanrights-based strategy and propose a variety of measures. Relevant Guidelines Pass the mouse over the highlighted buttons to read guidelines titles The legal framework Access to adequate food is a universal human right. Individuals should be able to claim this right and States are accountable for the elaboration and implementation of policies for the immediate and progressive realization of the right to food. The following guidelines indicate how this process can be achieved, through measures ranging from education and awareness raising to the establishment of an appropriate legal system. Relevant Guidelines Pass the mouse over the highlighted buttons to read guidelines titles page 15

16 What are the Guidelines meant for Adequate food Today, some 854 million people are undernourished and many more lack the vitamins and minerals needed for healthy growth, sound development and the ability to remain in good health. The right to food includes the right to be free from hunger and the right to adequate food. States should ensure that all foods available on the market are wholesome, nutritious and appropriate under given circumstances. Relevant Guidelines Pass the mouse over the highlighted buttons to read guidelines titles What are the Guidelines meant for Vulnerable populations The right to food commits States to initiatives to facilitate economic and physical access to adequate food. States have an obligation to provide food or the means to access food to individuals who are unable, for reasons beyond their control, to provide for themselves and their families. Marginalized and vulnerable populations, who cannot provide for themselves, therefore, require special attention. The following guidelines advise on supporting such populations. Relevant Guidelines Pass the mouse over the highlighted buttons to read guidelines titles Emergencies Realization of the right to food in periods of crisis is particularly difficult. The Right to Food Guidelines provide recommendations on measures needed in natural and human-made disasters, and in the framework of international food aid. Relevant Guidelines Pass the mouse over the highlighted buttons to read guidelines titles page 16

17 Using the Right to Food Guidelines The Right to Food Guidelines can help Governments design appropriate policies, strategies and legislation. GOVERNMENTS The guidelines are a voluntary instrument by their very nature, but can nevertheless become a forceful practical guide to influence state policies. Guidelines 5, 7, 17 and 18 offer states practical guidance for developing effective institutional and legal frameworks to provide the right to adequate food and for establishing independent monitoring mechanisms to implement these frameworks. Relevant Guidelines Pass the mouse over the highlighted buttons to read guidelines titles Using the Right to Food Guidelines Example: effective institutional framework In January 2002 the Brazilian Government adopted a national food security policy (the Food and Nutritional Policy) and established a national food security programme (the Zero Hunger Programme) recognizing the state s responsibility to ensure access to adequate food for the entire Brazilian population. The National Council for Food and Nutritional Security (CONSEA) was created as an advisory body to the presidency. It plays a vital role in coordinating the policy-making agenda of several government institutions in conjunction with the participatory efforts of civil society and observers. Example: effective legal framework In 2002 many people in the State of Rajasthan were starving although food was available in stocks of the Food Corporation of India. In response to this situation, the People s Union for Civil Liberties, a domestic human rights non-governmental organization (NGO), appealed to the Supreme Court. This NGO argued that the constitutional right to life was being denied through denial of the right to food. In a number of interim orders the Supreme Court ruled that all individuals in India have the right to food and that this right should be fulfilled by the state. The Court then directed all state governments of India to implement numerous assistance programmes quickly to help enforce the right to food. Today, a national right to food campaign led by domestic human rights NGOs is working to inform the most vulnerable groups, as well as the general public, about their rights and entitlements to adequate food. page 17

18 Using the Right to Food Guidelines The Right to Food Guidelines can also provide civil society with a powerful tool to demand changes in policies. CIVIL SOCIETY Civil society can use the guidelines to challenge governments that are inactive or that are implementing inadequate policies. A successful use of the guidelines is that civil society will start using them for scrutinizing government policies and for demanding specific government responses. Guidelines 1, 3, 7 and 11 offer NGOs practical guidance on assisting individuals to make demands to their government. NGOs play a role in strengthening individuals awareness about their rights and enhancing their legal capacity to demand such rights. Relevant Guidelines Pass the mouse over the highlighted buttons to read guidelines titles Using the Right to Food Guidelines Example: strengthening individuals awareness about their rights and enhancing their legal capacity In India in 2001 a number of civil society organizations successfully campaigned for the introduction of nutritious school meals for all schoolchildren in the country using public awareness and legal action. A 2001 court order issued by the Supreme Court obliged all state governments to introduce free, hot, cooked mid-day meals at least 200 days per year. Today these meals are served to 50 million children and have been shown to protect children from hunger, boost school attendance and help break caste prejudices, thereby fostering greater social equity. page 18

19 Using the Right to Food Guidelines Relevant intergovernmental organizations should use the Right to Food Guidelines systematically. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has already announced that it will use the Guidelines as a tool when examining state parties performance on the right to adequate food. Guidelines 3, 14, 15 and 19 provide some examples of the role international organizations can play in cooperating with governments to devise appropriate strategies that integrate a human rights perspective in poverty reduction programmes. International organizations have a role to play in investment and advise in food security policies and programmes and also one in the area of delivery of food assistance. Relevant intergovernmental organization INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS Relevant Guidelines Pass the mouse over the highlighted buttons to read guidelines titles Relevant intergovernmental organization are, for example, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and also other agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Development Programem (UNDP) and the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF). Delivery of food assistance indications for humanitarian intervention to be human rights conform In the design of food aid programmes, humanitarian assistance organizations should aim at schemes that minimize harmful effects on local food production and thus: Provide aid on the basis of a sound assessment of needs and only when is the most effective and appropriate means of assistance (Food Aid Convention, Article VIII). Consider the best options for the provision of aid, including the distribution of foodstuffs, cash transfers to households and combinations of both. Cash transfers have bee tried in a variety of settings, including recent relief operations in Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Somalia (Harvey, Slater and Farrington, 2005). In Mozambique, a United States Agency for International Development relief programme for flood victims involved the distribution of cash to women heads of household through a local commercial bank; the programme is reported to have been a cost-effective mechanism to enable households to buy food, livestock and seeds (Hanlon, 2004). Where food aid is provided in kind, consider purchasing foodstuffs in a developing country rather than in the North (triangular purchase) or in one part of the affected country for supply in a deficit area of the same country (local purchase). Design a clear exit strategy and terminate aid programmes when appropriate. page 19

20 Using the Right to Food Guidelines To summarize: can you combine who the main users of the Right to Food Guidelines with some of the relevant activities in which the can be supported? ACTIVITIES USERS A Advising governments in food security policies and programmes. Governments 1 Implementing national policies for the realization of the right to food. Civil Society International organizations Assisting individuals to make demands to their government. Click on each option and drag it to the correct box. Then, click on Check Answer. Challenges Ahead The Right to Food Guidelines are relatively comprehensive and detailed. Yet, there are still some areas that need further expansion and guidance such as those of: strategies, in terms of methods to be chosen and adapted to different countries and strategy formulation; legal framework, in terms of the need to clearly spell out entitlements and responsibilities; and monitoring, indicators and benchmarks, in terms of assessment, data collection and participatory methodologies. Overall, the challenge remains implementation and the incorporation of right to food-conform principles into national legislations, policies and programs. page 20

21 Summary The Right to Food Guidelines marked an important step in standard setting for the right to food. They were adopted by the FAO Council in November The value of the Right to Food Guidelines is that they have moved beyond the normative content of the right to food to a more practical application of the concept of the right to food. The Right to Food Guidelines apply the definition of the right to food to concrete areas of national policies which play a role in the achievement of food security. The guidelines stress the need for an enabling environment, assistance for the food insecure and state accountability. The Right to Food Guidelines can be used as a reference by different users: by Governments, to design appropriate policies, strategies and legislation; by the civil society, as a powerful tool to demand and monitor changes in policies; and by relevant intergovernmental organizations, to advise governments in food security policies and programmes. If you want to know more... Additional Reading FIAN, The FAO Voluntary Guidelines for the Right to Food: Lasting Solutions against Hunger, in Voluntary Guidelines for the Right to Food, Fact Sheet No.1, FIAN, Voluntary Guidelines and the Right to Adequate Food from Negotiations to Implementation, in FIAN Documents, g47e, Oshaug, Arne, Developing Voluntary Guidelines for implementing the right to adequate food: anatomy of an intergovernmental process, in Eide & Kracht (eds.), "Food and Human Rights in Development, Vol. I, Legal and Institutional Dimensions and Selected Issues", Antwerpen-Oxford, Rae Isabella, Thomas Julian, Vidar Margret, History and Implications for FAO of the Guidelines on the Right to Adequate Food, in Eide & Kracht (eds.) "Food and Human Rights in Development, Vol. II, Evolving Issues and Emerging Applications", Antwerpen-Oxford, Rae Isabella, Thomas Julian, Vidar Margret, The Right to Food as a Fundamental Human Right: The FAO's Experience, in Acharya, Davis and Guha-Khasnobis (eds.) "Food Insecurity, Vulnerability and Human Rights Failure", Hampshire, SCN, Closing the Gap on the Right to Adequate Food: The Voluntary Guidelines, in SCN News Developments in International Nutrition, Number 30, Mid 2005, ISSN page 21