THE%20HUMAN%20RIGHTS%20APPROACH%20TO%20REDUCING%20MALNUTRITION

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THE HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH TO REDUCING MALNUTRITION
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THE CONCEPT

• Every individual should be adequately nourished.
• Every individual has a right to be adequately
  nourished.

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OUTLINE

• 1. The Human Rights Context
• 2. Malnutrition
• 3. Causes of Malnutrition
• 4. Food and Nutrition in International Law
• 5. International Standards
• 6. Objective 7.4 of the World Food Summit
• 7. Advocacy
• 8. National Framework Legislation

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1. THE HUMAN RIGHTS CONTEXT

• Human rights are those rights that are universal,
  enjoyed by all persons by virtue of their being
  human.

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Human Rights Law

• International human rights law can be understood
  as a project of articulating universally accepted
  standards of governance with regard to the
  protection and promotion of human dignity.

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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

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

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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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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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2. MALNUTRITION

• 200 million malnourished children
• 1 billion adults seriously underweight
• Maternal anemiagt80 in some countries
• Infections, cancer, heart disease, obesity
• Half of the 12 million childrens deaths each
  year are associated with malnutrition (Silent
  Holocaust)

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3. CAUSES OF MALNUTRITION

• Immediate causes (clinical level)
• Underlying causes (household level)
• Basic causes (societal level)

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Availability vs. Access

• Availability -- is there food nearby?
• Access -- can you get 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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Bases for entitlement

• Ownership
• Labor
• Money
• Inheritance
• Gift
• Human rights

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4. FOOD AND NUTRITION 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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5. 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 Assembly

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More International Standards

• 1990 - Innocenti Declaration on the Protection,
  Promotion and Support of Breastfeeding
• 1990 - World Summit for Children
• 1992 - International Conference on Nutrition
• 1996 - World Food Summit

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6. OBJECTIVE 7.4 OF THE WORLD FOOD SUMMIT

• 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

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CESCR General Comments 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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7. 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

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UNs Administrative Committee on
Coordination/Subcommittee 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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8. NATIONAL FRAMEWORK LEGISLATION

• National workshops in Mexico, Guatemala, Nigeria,
  Ghana
• Case studies on Brazil, South Africa
• Article in IJCR on national law
• FAO support for framework legislation
• Third Expert Consultation

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SPECIAL TOPICS

• Nutrition Rights in Specific Places
• Nutrition Rights in Specific Programs
• (TINP, WIC, Food Stamps)
• Nutrition Rights of Refugees
• Nutrition Rights in Complex Emergencies
• Nutrition Rights of Infants
• HIV/AIDS (Eugene court case)
• Human Right to Water

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To follow up . . .

• (1) The Human Rights Approach To Reducing
  Malnutrition
• http//www2.hawaii.edu/kent/hrapproach.doc
• (2) A Gendered Perspective on Nutrition Rights
• http/www2.hawaii.edu/kent/gendered.pdf
• (3) Tutorial on Nutrition Rights
• http/www2.hawaii.edu/kent/tutorial2000/titlepage
  .htm
• (4) May 2000-Nutrition Rights course at Peace and
  Development Centre, Geneva
• (5) Fall 2000 Political Science 320 Political
  Science 675c
• (6) kent_at_hawaii.edu

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The Question of StrategyHow can we assure that
the human right to food and nutrition is realized
by all people?
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A GENDERED PERSPECTIVEON NUTRITION RIGHTS
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Women have special vulnerabilities AND special
capacities. Give more attention to their
capacities!!
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WOMENS CONTRIBUTION54.6 !!
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Nutrition status for children is strongly related
to the overall status of women.
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Probably the best way to assure the realization
of the human right to adequate food and nutrition
for all people is to assure the realization of
all human rights for all women.
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• Nutrition Education as an Instrument of
  Empowerment
• The teachers as well as the learners should be
  empowered.
• Women need to gain status by being more fully
  educated and by participating more fully in
  social life.
• Women care more about nutrition.
• Conclusion Women should play an increasingly
  strong role in designing, managing, and
  implementing nutrition programs.

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Women should play larger roles in the design and
implementation of nutrition programs because

• they are likely to produce better results AND
• because women have a human right to full
  participation in their societies development.

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CONTRACTING OUT

• Government-sponsored nutrition programs, like
  other kinds of programs, can be managed on the
  basis of contracting out. Private contractors bid
  for the job. Their compensation depends on their
  successful completion of the job.

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Women-centeredNutrition-rights approach
toContracting out toReducing malnutrition
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• Manage the national nutrition program through a
  contract process.
• Establish clear, jointly determined objectives,
  based on nutrition rights.
• Invite leading womens organizations to design
  and manage the program, making full use of
  subcontracting.
• Involve women at all levels.

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