Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 140 entities
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- Most countries maintain a threshold maximum residue level, indicating the highest level of pesticide considered to be safe for consumption. Monitoring those levels can help protect consumers and incentivize farmers to minimize the use of pesticides. However, capacity for inspection is often lacking, or adequate systems are not in place to measure or enforce maximum residue levels. Moreover, as maximum residue levels are not uniform, food products banned in one country may still be permitted entry in countries that allow higher levels. Similarly, while foods produced locally containing high pesticide residue levels may not be permitted for export owing to stricter regulations abroad, they may still be sold domestically.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Certain voluntary guidelines and recommendations are also relevant in the context of human rights and pesticides. The Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security, which provide non-binding guidance for States on operationalizing the right to adequate food, promote State action in the realm of food safety and consumer protection. For example, guideline 9 calls for States to develop food safety standards on pesticide residues. Guideline 4 advocates that States should ensure adequate protection for consumers against unsafe food and encourages the development of corporate social responsibility policies for businesses.
- 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
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides individuals with a grievance mechanism at the international level to claim violations of any of the rights set forth in the Covenant and to submit complaints to the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- The right to adequate food provides a guarantee for food that is necessary to achieve an adequate standard of living. In addition to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it has been codified in article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, in its general comment No. 12 (1999) on the right to adequate food, substantiates the right to adequate food, stating that it must not be construed in a narrow or restrictive sense, and declaring that adequacy denotes not just quantity but also quality. The Committee further considers that the right implies food that is free from adverse substances, and asserts that States must implement food safety requirements and protective measures to ensure that food is safe and qualitatively adequate. Under even the narrowest interpretation of article 11 and general comment No. 12, food that is contaminated by pesticides cannot be considered as adequate food.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Food systems include production, processing, transport and consumption of food and are shaped by political, environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic factors. The industrial food system currently dominates the world. It focuses on increasing food production and maximizing efficiency at the lowest possible economic cost and relies on industrialized agriculture, including monocropping and factory farming, industrial food processing and mass distribution and marketing. Reflecting their affordability, availability and aggressive marketing strategies, industrialized food products constitute a very significant portion of the world's food sales.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Such initiatives are particularly concerning because the private sector can advocate food supplements so effectively. For example, commercialization of such products as ready-to-use-therapeutic foods, branded with the logos of transnational companies, may also increase consumers' brand loyalty to a company's unhealthy soft drinks and snack foods. Furthermore, many businesses involved in fortified products are the same multinationals violating the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Nevertheless, fortification initiatives do make an important contribution to efforts to achieve food and nutrition security, provided they form part of a comprehensive strategy that addresses the social, economic and cultural determinants of food systems. Such solutions must always be critically evaluated and narrowly implemented to ensure that they are used only to provide temporary relief and do not replace long-term solutions, such as diversification of agriculture, or interfere with local production systems.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- A relatively new proposal, the draft Framework Convention on Global Health, suggests that the right to adequate food should be interpreted to mean the right to a standard of nutritional quality and not just the right to a caloric minimum.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Placing nutrition governance within the human rights framework also underlines the responsibility of corporations in the food and nutrition industry to respect human rights and to contribute to equitable access to nutritious foods. Such responsibility is implied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which underlines that "everyone has duties to the community" (art. 29) and that groups and persons must refrain from activities causing encroachment on the rights enshrined in the Declaration (art. 30).
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Trade liberalization and foreign direct investment (FDI) by transnational corporations in the processed food industry have played a large role in increasing the availability of ultraprocessed foods on the global market. The removal of policies to protect domestic markets has strongly affected the increase in production of certain unhealthy foods, as well as their availability and cost. Countries that embrace market deregulation experience a faster increase in unhealthy food consumption.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- While recognizing that companies play a big role in fighting malnutrition, there is a danger in giving corporations unprecedented access to policymaking processes, which may produce conflicts of interest at several levels unless governed properly. It has been questioned whether nutrition policies can deliver both short-term financial returns for companies and long-term social and health benefits that help to effectively tackle global malnutrition challenges. Adequate safeguards are thus needed to ensure that the private sector does not use its position as a "stakeholder" to influence public policymaking spaces on nutrition to promote commercial objectives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- International law instruments provide a normative and legal foundation for the human right to adequate food and nutrition. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognize the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger. Dealing with global nutrition challenges through a rights-based perspective is not only desirable but also obligatory, given that nutrition is an inherent element of the right to food. In its general comment No. 12, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights interpreted the right to food as obliging every State to "ensure for everyone under its jurisdiction access to the minimum essential food which is sufficient, nutritionally adequate and safe, to ensure their freedom from hunger".
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Several international conferences under United Nations auspices have consolidated international law by recognizing nutrition and health within the context of the human right to food. As early as 1992, the World Declaration on Nutrition of the First International Conference on Nutrition referred to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the right to food, with States committing to ensure "sustained nutritional well-being for all people". The Rome Declaration on World Food Security, adopted in 1996, reiterated "the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger". This was reaffirmed at the Second International Conference on Nutrition, in 2014.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- While nutrition support in the past was often considered charitable action, it is increasingly regarded as a result of a failure to protect an essential human right, attributed largely to a lack of sufficient nutrition governance and accountability. Applying a human rights-based approach to nutrition facilitates the implementation of procedural rights, such as participation, accountability, non-discrimination and transparency. The Second International Conference on Nutrition confirmed that embedding nutrition in a human rights agenda made issues of governance and accountability central to effective implementation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- On 1 April 2016, following the recommendations of the Conference, the General Assembly proclaimed 2016-2025 the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition. The Decade presents a unique opportunity to centralize globally agreed targets, align actors around implementation and address the shortcomings identified in the current nutrition governance system.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Ensuring adequate financing is also a struggle. For example, to reach the World Health Assembly goal on stunting by 2025, a doubling of government funding and a quadrupling of donor spending is necessary. Technical knowledge, political will and efficient accountability systems are needed to reach existing nutrition goals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, endorsed by the Human Rights Council in 2011, formally recognize the responsibility of enterprises to avoid infringing on the human rights of others and to address adverse human rights impacts with which they are involved. Logically, this responsibility includes the adverse impacts of the food industry with respect to the right to adequate food.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- To respond to universal malnutrition challenges, a coordinated multisectoral policy response is needed at every level. This requires dialogue between all relevant sectors and actors, including nutritionists, development actors, civil society, donors, the private sector and government officials. Furthermore, it is important to establish accountability mechanisms to assess planning, budgeting and the results of nutrition-related interventions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- Several helpful initiatives exist to assist policymakers in ensuring nutrition accountability. For example, the WHO global database on the implementation of nutrition action set forth national policy actions and strategies to eliminate all forms of malnutrition. Similarly, the International Network for Food and Obesity/ Non Communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS), an international collaboration of universities and global non governmental organizations, seeks to monitor, benchmark and support actions to create healthy food environments and reduce diet-related non-communicable diseases. It uses the healthy food environment policy index to monitor government actions. While currently at the pilot-testing stage, such tools will assist civil society in holding Governments and the food industry to greater account for creating healthier food environments. The Nourishing Framework, created by World Cancer Research Fund International, is an interactive tool to promote healthy diets, allowing a selection and tailoring of policy options for different populations. Finally, WHO regional offices have developed regional nutrient profiling models, which can be used in policymaking to improve the overall nutritional quality of diets.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Recent initiatives, such as a 2014 high-level commission on ending childhood obesity and recommendations towards a global convention to protect and promote healthy diets by the World Obesity Federation and Consumers International, as well as Global Nutrition Reports, indicate the need for stronger accountability mechanisms at the national level, considering that voluntary corporate initiatives are proving ineffective.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- The Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security also encourage States to take steps to prevent overconsumption and unbalanced diets that may lead to malnutrition, obesity and degenerative diseases. Many States are taking steps in the right direction to regulate the food industry, including through labelling initiatives, advertising restrictions and economic measures.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- Yet the world is not on track to reach these global targets. It is time to translate commitment into action. The United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition, proclaimed in April 2016, presents a unique opportunity to ensure a coherent, inclusive and transparent response to malnutrition, embedded within human rights. Applying a human rights-based approach to nutrition policy acknowledges rights holders and the duty of Governments to refrain from actions that negatively affect the right to nutrition and to implement strategies that tackle malnutrition's root causes. Recognizing that private sector involvement in responding to malnutrition cannot be ignored, it is necessary to establish suitable safeguards to prevent negative corporate influences on nutrition governance. States should be supported in their efforts to regulate and hold the food industry accountable, to encourage behavioural changes in the population and to improve access to nutritious food through social protection. Finally, it is crucial to recognize that malnutrition will continue to persist, unless a coordinated effort is made to shift from unsustainable industrial food systems to ones that are "nutrition sensitive".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- The Conference is considered a landmark event that brought together the global community to discuss nutrition, acknowledging malnutrition in all its forms. Its outcome document, the Rome Declaration on Nutrition, pledges 10 commitments to action, recognizing the importance of a life-cycle approach to preventing malnutrition, as well as empowering people to make informed food choices. States committed to increasing investment in nutrition and moving towards sustainable food systems. The Framework for Action adopted at the Conference recognizes that effective and coherent nutrition policies require adequate financing and investment, political commitment, systematic public monitoring and accountability processes. It also calls for collaboration across all systems, including food, health, trade, investment, education, social protection, water and sanitation and hygiene.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Despite the potential success of the Goals, nutrition is mentioned in only 1 of the 169 targets, and overweight and obesity are not mentioned. More importantly, whether the Sustainable Development Goal targets have the innovation necessary to ensure a successful shift towards sustainable food systems and provide the framework for global governance of agriculture, food, nutrition and health seems doubtful. In addition, some targets lack the focus necessary to enable effective implementation, or they contribute to several Goals, thereby creating possible conflicts. Action to meet one target could have unintended consequences on others if they are pursued separately. Moreover, the monitoring mechanism for the Goals based on voluntary national reporting and review mechanisms, through the high-level political forum on sustainable development of the General Assembly, may not be effective enough to reach agreed targets. Finally, a major shortcoming is the fact that the human right to adequate food is not specifically articulated in the Goals.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- States should ensure that their policies and practices do not lead to violations of the right to food, either directly or indirectly, for people living in other countries, as well as their own citizens. This obligation is simply the extension of the "no harm" principle of States in international law. The extraterritorial obligations of States in relation to the right to food are referred to in general comment No. 12 which notes that "food should never be used as an instrument of political and economic pressure". States should therefore refrain from implementing food embargoes or similar measures that endanger conditions for food production and water supply, and access to goods and services essential for securing the right to food. Similarly IFIs should also refrain from taking decisions that could lead to potential violations of the right to food in other countries. As multi-State actors, IFIs should be held accountable for human rights violations by other member States that have ratified the Covenant.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- All of these mechanisms have the common of preventing and addressing human rights abuse by business enterprises but fail to provide sufficient monitoring mechanisms. The voluntary nature of soft law instruments is generally not sufficient to protect human rights and thus fails to close the existing "accountability gap" of extraterritorial responsibilities. However, one should not be too quick to rule out categorically the legal applicability of such declarations just because they are of a voluntary nature. Law is not limited to what States set forth. Legal norms can also be formed in society. To treat the concept of law as being entirely dependent on the State is to overlook the unique nature of social norms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Impact of climate change on the right to food 2015, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- As early as 1999, in its general comment No. 12, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights acknowledged that "even where a State faces severe resource constraints, whether caused by a process of economic adjustment, economic recession, climatic conditions or other factors, measures should be undertaken to ensure that the right to adequate food is especially fulfilled for vulnerable population groups and individuals". In accordance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, most States accept the responsibility for fulfilling the right to food, designing and implementing policies that support its progressive realization and ensure access to adequate food. In the context of climate change, States must avoid policies and actions that undermine people's ability to produce their own food or to access food for themselves and their families.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Impact of climate change on the right to food 2015, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- States must also endeavour to support policies that limit and overcome negative effects on the right to food. A human rights framework requires all States to seek to reduce harmful emissions into the global atmosphere, with a view to reducing their negative effect on the enjoyment of human rights. In addition, in its statement on the world food crisis (E/C.12/2008/1), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights pressed States parties to adopt "strategies to combat global climate change that do not negatively affect the right to adequate food and freedom from hunger, but rather promote sustainable agriculture". This statement is in harmony with article 2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Unfortunately, while it does mention the strategies that States should employ to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies, the United Nations Framework Convention refers to the use of "appropriate methods" to minimize "adverse effects on the economy, on public health and on the quality of the environment" (art. 4 (1) (f), rather than referencing human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Impact of climate change on the right to food 2015, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Since 2008, the Human Rights Council has regularly highlighted the negative implications of climate change on human rights. Furthermore, at the request of the Council, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) presented a report in 2009 that addressed the adverse effects of climate change on specific rights, including the direct relationship between the right to adequate food and climate change (A/HRC/10/61, paras. 25-27). The Council reiterated the negative impact of climate change on the right to food in subsequent resolutions adopted in 2009, 2011, 2014 and, most recently, in June 2015.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- The right to food was first recognized in article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since then it has been recognized in a number of international instruments, with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (hereinafter "the Covenant") representing the most significant treaty on the right to food. The Covenant (to date ratified by 162 States) has been vital in shaping and developing the normative framework on the right to food. The treaty defines the right to food as a distinct and fundamental right to be free from hunger and to have sustainable access to food (art. 11). It outlines specific obligations for all States parties to take measures to progressively attain the full realization of the right to food.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph