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Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Appropriately, article 24 (2) (c) of the Convention makes the explicit link between food, water and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. States must combat disease and malnutrition through the provision of adequate, nutritious foods and clean drinking water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution. In articles 24 (4) and 32 (1), the Convention also calls for international cooperation to help developing countries achieve this, and requires States to protect children from work that may be hazardous to their health or physical or mental development, such as work where they use or may otherwise be exposed to hazardous pesticides. It is clear that ensuring protection from pesticides falls within the parameters of the Convention.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- For the preparation of the present report, some Governments provided information on laws to regulate pesticide use and on authorization and testing requirements prior to registration as well as inspection and monitoring practices, including random sampling of agricultural products for residue levels and farm inspections. Training and awareness-raising initiatives for the general public, farmers, distributors and schoolchildren were also shared, as well as precautionary measures and labelling requirements. Finally, integrated pest management strategies and examples of practices promoting organic farming were provided.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- Countries have established significant national laws and practices in an effort to reduce pesticide harm; however, policies and levels of protection vary significantly. For instance, there are often serious shortcomings in national registration processes prior to the sale of pesticide products. It is very difficult to assess the risk of pesticides submitted for registration, particularly as toxicity studies often do not analyse the many chronic health-related effects. Further, reviews may not take place frequently enough and regulatory authorities may be under strong pressure from the industry to prevent or reverse bans on hazardous pesticides. Without standardized, stringent regulations on the production, sale and acceptable levels of pesticide use, the burden of the negative effects of pesticides is felt by agricultural workers, children, the poor and other vulnerable communities, especially in countries that have weaker regulatory and enforcement systems.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Children are most vulnerable to pesticide contamination, as their organs are still developing and, owing to their smaller size, they are exposed to a higher dose per unit of body weight; the levels and activity of key enzymes that detoxify pesticides are much lower in children than in adults. Health impacts linked to childhood exposure to pesticides include impaired intellectual development, adverse behavioural effects and other developmental abnormalities. Emerging research is revealing that exposure to even low levels of pesticides, for example through wind drift or residues on food, may be very damaging to children’s health, disrupting their mental and physiological growth and possibly leading to a lifetime of diseases and disorders.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- Pesticide poisonings remain a serious concern, especially in developing countries, even though these nations account for only 25 per cent of pesticide usage. In some countries, pesticide poisoning even exceeds fatalities from infectious diseases. Tragic accidents involving poisoning include an incident in 1999 in Peru, where 24 schoolchildren died following the consumption of the highly toxic pesticide parathion, which had been packaged so that it was mistaken for powdered milk. Other cases include the deaths of 23 children in India in 2013 after consuming a meal contaminated with the highly hazardous pesticide monocrotophos; the poisoning of 39 preschool children in China in 2014 from consumption of food containing residues of the pesticide TETs; and the deaths of 11 children in Bangladesh in 2015 after eating fruits laced with pesticides.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Exposure to pesticides can have severe impacts on the enjoyment of human rights, in particular the right to adequate food, as well as the right to health. The right to food obligates States to implement protective measures and food safety requirements to ensure that food is safe, free from pesticides and qualitatively adequate. Furthermore, human rights standards require States to protect vulnerable groups, such as farm workers and agricultural communities, children and pregnant women from the impacts of pesticides.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The exposure risk of children engaged in agricultural work is particularly alarming. Although little data are available, the International Labour Organization estimates that about 60 per cent of child labourers worldwide work in agriculture, and children often make up a substantial portion of the agricultural workforce in developing countries. Their increased sensitivity to the hazards of pesticides, the inadequacy of protective equipment and their lack of experience may leave them particularly exposed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child also includes specific provisions to protect children from environmental contaminants and supports childhood development. Article 6 highlights the obligation of Governments, to the maximum extent possible, to ensure that children survive and develop in a healthy manner.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Pesticides may also bioaccumulate in farmed animals through contaminated feed. Insecticides are often used in poultry and eggs, while milk and other dairy products may contain a range of substances through bioaccumulation and storage in the fatty tissues of the animals. This is of particular concern as cow’s milk is often a staple component of human diets, especially for children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Examples of exposure owing to proximity to plantations include Costa Rica, where children living close to banana plantations were found to be exposed to high levels of insecticides. In India, inhabitants of the Padre village in the State of Kerala, located near cashew plantations, were found to suffer from high rates of illness and death that have been linked to the highly hazardous pesticide endosulfan; disability rates among inhabitants are reportedly 73 per cent higher than the overall rates for the entire state.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- Those efforts indicate that business has a responsibility to protect the right to adequate food and nutrition, especially with regard to children. Yet in practice it can be difficult to hold companies to account, especially in cross-border cases involving complex corporate structures. In this regard, home States have extraterritorial obligations to seek to prevent and address human rights abuses abroad by companies domiciled within their jurisdictions. For example, if a host country is unwilling to hold a company responsible, or even provides tax-free or other incentives, the home country of the enterprise should exercise extraterritorial responsibility.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- To encourage increased consumption of healthy foods by children, some countries have implemented vegetable and fruit programmes at schools, imposed mandatory prohibitions on serving foods classified as unhealthy, and banned vending machines. Poland recently banned the sale of foods high in sugar, salt and fat in all schools, and Mexico introduced a similar ban in 2010. Other initiatives include implementing "green food zones" prohibiting the sale of fast food within the immediate vicinity of schools and banning advertising and promotion of foods that do not meet certain nutrition standards.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Girls and women suffer from discrimination in relation to their right to food at all stages in life. In many countries, females receive less food than their male partners, due to a lower social status. In extreme cases, a preference for male children may lead to female infanticide, including by deprivation of food. Some mothers stop breastfeeding girls prematurely in order to try and get pregnant with a male, which could increase risks of infection and other risks if impure water is used with formula. Similar discrimination applies to older women who tend to be less literate than older men, in many parts of the world; this limits women's employability, participation and voice in community development activities and makes them less likely to be able to provide for themselves.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, girls and adolescent women induced by tradition or forced into child marriage and adolescent pregnancy, suffer the consequences of a high work burden and deprivation of their child rights, including their right to adequate nutrition and education. They are required to perform heavy amounts of domestic work, and are responsible for raising children while still children themselves. Adolescent pregnancy is a typical outcome of child marriage and complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the second cause of death for 15-19 year-old girls globally.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- A gendered approach to climate change adaptation and mitigation is necessary to combat the vulnerabilities women face because of existing social, economic and political inequalities. Mitigation activities aim to decrease greenhouse gas emissions through support for technology development and capacity building. These activities also provide important opportunities to improve women's health and livelihoods by creating new opportunities for women particularly in the renewable energy sector. Development programs that support the distribution of clean cook-stoves have had a significant impact on reducing emissions and limiting premature deaths and illness linked to indoor air pollution, particularly benefiting women and children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- One area of concern is disaster management because climate change is likely to impact the number and severity of extreme weather events. Researches show that in societies where men and women should be impacted indiscriminately in disasters women and girls, as a result of gender based inequalities, are up to 14 times more likely to die in the event of a disaster. This is especially true of elderly women, those with disabilities, pregnant and nursing women, and those with small children, who may have lack of, or limited mobility and resources, and therefore remain most at risk in cases of emergency.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Women remain more vulnerable than men in post-disaster situations, as their household responsibilities increase while access to resources decreases. The daily work involved in providing food, water, and fuel for households after a disaster requires intensive labour, the bulk of which is borne by women. Moreover, marketing interference with breastfeeding initiation and long-term prolongation jeopardizes women's ability to safely feed their infants and young children due to unreliable quality and quantity of safe drinking water, particularly in post-disaster situations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- The underlying causes of malnutrition are complex and multidimensional, and access to nutritious food is often a key indicator of socioeconomic inequality. Women and children are particularly sensitive to malnutrition, while poverty, gender inequality and lack of access to adequate sanitation, health and education services are aggravating factors. Today's food systems, which are dominated by industrial production and processing, as well as trade liberalization and aggressive marketing strategies, are fostering unhealthy eating habits and creating a dependence on highly processed, nutrient-poor foods. Unequal access to and control over resources, as well as unsustainable production and consumption patterns, which lead to environmental degradation and climate change, also contribute to the malfunctioning of food systems.3
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- Recognizing the growing threat of malnutrition in all its forms and its negative impacts on economic development, universal health and efforts to reduce inequality, the international community has taken major initiatives to ensure global policy action. The World Health Organization (WHO) global targets to improve maternal, infant and young child nutrition by 2025, the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases 2013-2020 and the political commitments made at the Second International Conference on Nutrition, in 2014, to ensure the right of everyone to safe, sufficient and nutritious food are encouraging responses. It is now also recognized that nutrition plays a crucial role in fulfilling the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- WHO recommends breastfeeding within one hour of birth and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. Nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods should be introduced at 6 months of age, together with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond. Yet only about 36 per cent of infants between 0 and 6 months old are exclusively breastfed. In high-income countries, fewer than one in five infants are breastfed for 12 months, and only two out of three children between 6 months and 2 years of age receive breast milk in low- and middle-income countries. These rates have not improved in two decades. In addition, few children receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods. A total of 823,000 children's lives could be saved yearly if all children between 0 and 23 months were optimally breastfed. One of the major obstacles to breastfeeding is the misleading marketing by baby food companies of breast milk substitutes and the lack of corporate accountability for the adverse consequences of such abuses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Children and pregnant and lactating women enjoy even further protections. The Convention on the Rights of the Child confirms that, to ensure the full implementation of a child's right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health, States must take appropriate measures to combat disease and malnutrition through, inter alia, the provision of "adequate nutritious foods" (art. 24 (2) (c)) and that in case of need they must provide material assistance and support programmes, including with regard to nutrition (art. 27 (3)). The Convention also calls for the protection and promotion of exclusive breastfeeding for infants up to 6 months of age, and for breastfeeding to continue alongside appropriate complementary foods preferably until 2 years of age.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- For married women, the death of a husband does not guarantee her ownership rights of the decedent's property. In Uganda for example, a co-ownership clause was added to the Land Act of 1998, which technically vested the land title in both the husband and wife; however, upon the death of the husband, any .children of the marriage are legally allowed to take land from the mother. Similarly, among the Hmong and Khmu, the largest ethnic groups in Lao PDR, women are primarily considered as guardians of their children's inheritance rather than heirs in their own right and additionally single women are prohibited from living independently.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Impacts of decreased water quality as a result of climate change are also gender differentiated. Children and pregnant women are more physically vulnerable to waterborne diseases and their role in supplying household water and performing domestic chores makes them more vulnerable to developing diseases, such as diarrhea and cholera, which thrive in degraded water. Decreased water resources may also cause women's health to suffer as a result of the increased work burden and reduced nutritional status. For instance, in Peru following the 1997-98 El Niño events, malnutrition among women was a major cause of peripartum illness.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- In the technical guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce and eliminate preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age (A/HRC/27/31) Member States are urged to regulate private actors over which they exercise control, including producers and marketers of breast milk substitutes and other relevant companies (para. 70 (g)). The Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its general comment No. 15, also calls upon private companies to comply with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and relevant World Health Assembly resolutions. In its most recent resolution on ending inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children, adopted in May 2016, the World Health Assembly called upon manufacturers and distributors of foods for infants and young children to end all forms of inappropriate promotion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Breastfeeding is a powerful influence on child survival and development and prevention of child malnutrition. It provides optimal nutrition for young infants, reducing the incidence and severity of infectious diseases and contributing to obesity prevention. Breastfed babies are protected from illnesses through the mother's antibodies, while those who are not are exposed to increased chances of malnutrition, non-communicable diseases and suboptimal cognitive development. In addition, infant formula and other breast milk substitutes can cause poor growth or illness if water quality and hygiene standards are not met.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Worldwide data suggest that average sodium and sugar consumption is well above minimal physiological needs. Processed food consumers unknowingly consume three to five times more sodium than required, which is particularly troubling when such foods target children. For example, a global study conducted in 2015 reviewed 387 popular children's meals and found sodium levels to be dangerously high. Similarly, over the past 50 years, global sugar consumption has more than tripled, particularly in the form of sweetened beverages.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- Malnutrition includes undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency and conditions associated with excess intake and nutritional imbalance. Undernutrition is a consequence of consuming too few essential nutrients, caused by either insufficient food intake or repeated infectious diseases. The most basic kind of undernutrition is protein energy malnutrition, which in its acute form leads to wasting. Identifying wasting in children is crucial because the condition is reversible, if appropriately addressed. In its chronic form, it is caused by sustained poor dietary intake or repeated infections during the first 1,000 days of a child's life and can lead to stunting. Stunting is irreversible and leads to shortness in stature, immediate and long-term morbidity and mortality and problems with cognitive functioning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The first 1,000 days of a child's life determines a person's physical and intellectual development. Children receiving appropriate nutrition during this window are reportedly 10 times more likely to overcome life-threatening childhood diseases and likely to complete 4.6 additional schooling levels and to raise healthier children themselves. The stages of a child's development are cumulative, and inadequate nutrition at an early stage can have lasting negative impacts, setting the child on a higher trajectory of risk of malnutrition throughout life. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its general comment No. 15, noted that understanding the life course was essential in order to appreciate how health problems in childhood affected public health in general.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- Advertisements influence people's food preferences and habits. Recognizing that children are especially exposed to aggressive marketing and promotion strategies by food and beverage companies, some States prohibit media advertising to children for certain "restricted" food and drink products. In Chile, for example, where children form more than 20 per cent of the audience, mandatory regulations restrict advertising to children under 14, while Taiwan Province of China bans the advertising of restricted foods on channels dedicated to children, levying fines for violations of its regulations. Brazil imposes strict regulations, prohibiting any "abusive publicity" and strategies that appeal directly to children and adolescents. In practice, however, there seem to be many difficulties in implementing such restrictions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Finally, legal barriers may force women to choose between domestic responsibilities and outside employment. As primary caretakers for children and households, women are not always permitted to engage in paid employment, and family and personal laws may prevent a woman from making employment decisions without her husband's permission. Meanwhile, some countries featured highly discriminatory family laws that gave husbands authority over their wives in marriage including rights over property, and divorce filings. Women also often struggle with maternity protection and child care as those carrying the primary responsibility for domestic work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph