THE HUMAN RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

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THE HUMAN RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

• George Kent
• University of Hawaii

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THE PROBLEM
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MALNUTRITION

• 200 million malnourished children
• 1 billion adults seriously underweight
• Maternal anemiagt80 in some countries
• Infections, cancer, heart disease, obesity
• Of the millions of childrens deaths each year,
  more than half are associated with malnutrition

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MORTALITY RISK FACTORS, 1990
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THE ANALYSIS
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Why is there so much hunger?

• Technology?
• Not enough land?
• Not enough food?
• People dont know how to produce food?
• Poverty?

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FOOD TRADE 2000

• Japan imported 46 billion worth of food.
• The U.S. imported 80 billion worth of food.

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The poor feed the rich!
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ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS

• Each Japanese and each U.S. citizen is estimated
  to consume production of 10 acres outside their
  countries, placing a higher demand on global
  resources than any other individuals.
• Earth Day Network http//www.earthday.net/goals/f
  ootprintnations.stm

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WHY DO PEOPLE PRODUCE FOOD?

• Subsistence food producers produce mainly to feed
  themselves.
• Commercial food systems respond mainly to power,
  not need. Farmers and other food producers work
  mainly for income, not because they are concerned
  about other peoples health and well-being.

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AVAILABILITY VS. ACCESS

• Availability -- is there food around?
• Access -- can you get enough of it?

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FAILURE OF ENTITLEMENTS

• What we can eat depends on what food we are able
  to acquire . . . . If a group of people fail to
  establish their entitlement over an adequate
  amount of food, they have to go hungry (Drèze and
  Sen, 1989)

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There is ALWAYS enough food for those who have
money!
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• People usually get food either by producing it,
  or by earning money to buy food. If they cannot
  produce it or buy it, they have no basis for
  making a claim on it.

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Lack of entitlement

• Food may be available in the community, in the
  stores, but poor people do not have access to it.
  They are not entitled to it.

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BASES FOR ENTITLEMENT

• Own production
• Exchange
• Gift
• Human rights?

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THE RESPONSE
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WHAT SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT HUNGER?

• Provide people with land? Whose?
• Job training? For what jobs?
• Feed the hungry? For how long? Who will pay?
• Who has what responsibilities with regard to
  hunger?

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TRADITIONAL REMEDIES

• National Nutrition and Holistic Care Program,
  Costa Rica
• Tamil Nadu Integrated Nutrition Project, India
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
  Infants and Children (WIC), U.S.
• Joint WHO/UNICEF Nutrition Support Program,
  Tanzania
• Alternative School Nutrition Program, Philippines

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THE HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH

• Every individual should have adequate food.
• Every individual has a right to adequate food.

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HUMAN RIGHTS DEFINITION

• A human right is a claim that the government must
  do or desist from doing specific things to
  further human dignity.
• Human rights are universal, enjoyed by all
  persons by virtue of their being human.

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ANOTHER DEFINITION

• Human rights are fundamental entitlements of
  persons, constituting means to the end of minimal
  human dignity or social justice. (Weiss,
  Forsythe, and Coate, 1994)

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MAJOR RIGHTS DOCUMENTS

• Magna Carta, 1215
• U.S. Declaration of Independence, 1776
• U.S. Bill of Rights, 1787
• French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of
  the Citizen, 1789

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MAJOR HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTS

• Charter of the United Nations, 1945
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
• International Covenant on Civil and Political
  Rights, 1966/1976
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and
  Cultural Rights, 1966/1976
• Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989/1990

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RIGHTS SYSTEMS

• A. Rights-holders and their rights
• B. Duty-bearers and their obligations
• C. Agents of accountability and their procedures
  for assuring that duty bearers meet their
  obligations to the rights holders

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ACCOUNTABILITY

• What can be done to make sure that government
  officials do what they are supposed to do?

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ACCOUNTABILITY OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS

• To United Nations bodies
• To other governments
• To specific agencies of government (e.g.,
  legislative auditor, ombudsmen, national human
  rights commission
• To mass media
• To general public
• To the rights holders - What are the remedies
  available to rights holders themselves?

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THE HUMAN RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

• Not just a nice idea!
• It is in the law!

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FOOD RIGHTS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
• everyone has the right to a standard of living
  adequate for the health and well-being of himself
  and his family, including food
• (Article 25)

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INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND
CULTURAL RIGHTS (1976)

• The States Parties recognize the right of
  everyone to an adequate standard of living for
  himself and his family, including adequate food,
  clothing, and housing (Article 11).
• Recognizes the fundamental right of everyone to
  be free from hunger . . .

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CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (1990)

• States Parties recognize the right of the child
  to the enjoyment of the highest attainable
  standard of health
• shall take appropriate measures to combat
  disease and malnutrition . . . through provision
  of adequate nutritious foods (Article 24)

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INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

• 1963 - Special Assembly on Mans Right to Freedom
  from Hunger
• 1974 - Universal Declaration on the Eradication
  of Hunger and Malnutrition
• 1981 - International Code of Marketing of
  Breastmilk Substitutes
• 1984 - World Food Assembly1990 - Innocenti
  Declaration on the Protection, Promotion and
  Support of Breastfeeding
• 1990 - World Summit for Children
• 1992 - International Conference on Nutrition
• 1996 - World Food Summit
• 2002 World Food Summit, five years later

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World Food Summit, 1996

• We . . . reaffirm the right of everyone to have
  safe access to safe and nutritious food,
  consistent with the right to adequate food and
  the fundamental right of everyone to be free from
  hunger.

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WORLD FOOD SUMMIT, 1996OBJECTIVE 7.4

• Objective 7.4 of concluding Plan of Action of the
  World Food Summit of 1996 called upon the UN
  High Commissioner for Human Rights, in
  consultation with others, to better define the
  rights related to food in Article 11 of the
  Covenant . . .

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OBJECTIVE 7.4 INITIATIVES

• April 1997 - Resolution from Commission on HR
• December 1997 - CESCR Day of Discussion
• December 1997 - First Expert Consultation
• January 1998 - HCHR report
• November 1998 - Second Expert Consultation
• April 1999 - ACC/SCN symposium
• May 1999 - CESCR General Comment
• June 1999 - Eides updated study
• September 2000 Appointment of Special
  Rapporteur
• March 2001 Third Expert Consultation

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GENERAL COMMENT 12 DEFINITION

• 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.

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LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT OBLIGATION

• Respect - government must not interfere with
  access to adequate food
• Protect - government must prevent others from
  interfering
• Fulfill (facilitate) - must establish enabling
  conditions so people can provide for themselves
• Fulfill (provide) - government must feed directly

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The Obligation to Facilitate

• 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.
• (General Comment 12)

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• Facilitating means helping people help
  themselves.
• Governments must ensure that there are enabling
  conditions so that people can provide for
  themselves, either by producing food directly, or
  by earning income and then purchasing their food.

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ADVOCACY

• 1984 - Books Food as a Human Right and The Right
  to Food
• 1992 - IPRA initiative, Oslo initiative,
  convergence at ICN, Rome
• 1994 - WANAHR launching
• 1996 - Special Food Policy link with WABA
• 1997 - Special International Journal of
  Childrens Rights
• International Project on the Right to Food in
  Development (Oslo June 2000 Geneva August 2000)

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UNS ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE ON
COORDINATION/SUB-COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION

• 1994 - First meeting of Working Group on
  Nutrition, Ethics, and Human Rights, in NY
• 1998 - SCN meeting in Oslo agreed that SCN
  symposium in 1999 would focus on HR
• 1999 - SCN meeting in Geneva, hosted by HCHR
  Robinson also addressed by Brundtland of WHO.
  (Report at www.unsystem.org/accscn )

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SPECIAL TOPICS

• Nutrition Rights in Specific Places
• Nutrition Rights in Specific Programs (e.g.,
  TINP, WIC)
• Nutrition Rights of Refugees
• Nutrition Rights in Complex Emergencies
• Nutrition Rights of Infants
• Nutrition Rights of Prisoners
• Human Right to Water
• Micronutrients (e.g., iodine, iron, Vitamin A)
• HIV/AIDS (Eugene, Camden court cases)
• Rights-based agency programming
• Indias Grain Storage Case
• National Framework Legislation

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KEY COMPONENTS OF NATIONAL LAW

• An effective national nutrition rights system
  includes clear specifications of
• A. Individuals Rights
• B. Governments Obligations, and corresponding
  response mechanisms
• C. Accountability Mechanisms, including legal
  remedies for rights holders

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THANK YOU!