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Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- India has led the way, not only at the regional level, but also globally, in terms of developing jurisprudence on economic, social and cultural rights. Its Constitution provides a strong legal framework for the protection and promotion of human rights, with article 47 noting that "States shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties". It has also recently joined a select group of countries that are legally obliged to ensure the distribution of subsidized food grains to its people. With the historic passing of its National Food Security Act in September 2013, India has pledged to provide heavily subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of its population. The National Food Security Act will amount to the largest food security programme in the world, and aims to reduce malnutrition and improve food security. It also promotes gender-based rights and social inclusion of women, and includes provision for social monitoring and complaint mechanisms. While the Act has received criticism, particularly owing to its failure to address the nutritional aspect, and for placing too much emphasis on public distribution without tackling the root causes of poverty and hunger, the Special Rapporteur commends Indian efforts to address chronic malnutrition, and encourages India to work with relevant stakeholders to tackle any potential gaps that may prevent this innovative approach from achieving its full potential
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Women, in particular, face significant barriers to accessing justice given their subordinate position in many societies, and the lack of information and knowledge about their rights and the ways to claim their protection. Indeed, women in rural areas often are unaware of their legal rights. In many rural areas, sociocultural norms make women fearful of retribution or ostracism if they pursue land claims or seek protection from violence. As a result, women tend to be denied access to justice more often than men, and are also more likely to be denied justice altogether.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 72e
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Ensure the empowerment of women by guaranteeing their basic right to access adequate food and take steps to implement gender-mainstreaming in relation to domestic policies on agricultural, property and inheritance rights;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Access to land and the right to food 2010, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Finally, land reform may be seen as an opportunity to strengthen access to land for women, particularly single women and widows. Article 14, paragraph 2 (g), of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women guarantees the right of women to equal treatment in land and agrarian reform as well as in land resettlement schemes. However, there remain laws and social customs such as those ensuring that the land of a deceased husband belongs to his sons, not to his widow, despite the flagrant violation of women's rights to which this leads. As a result, women still represent a significant minority of the total number of title-holders, as illustrated by the statistics set out in figure II.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Acroecology and the right to food 2011, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Specific, targeted schemes should ensure that women are empowered and encouraged to participate in this construction of knowledge. Culturally-sensitive participatory initiatives with female project staff and all-female working groups, and an increase in locally-recruited female agricultural extension staff and village motivators facing fewer cultural and language barriers, should counterbalance the greater access that men have to formal sources of agricultural knowledge. It is a source of concern to the Special Rapporteur that, while women face a number of specific obstacles (poor access to capital and land, the double burden of work in their productive and family roles, and low participation in decision-making), gender issues are incorporated into less than 10 per cent of development assistance in agriculture, and women farmers receive only 5 per cent of agricultural extension services worldwide. In principle, agroecology can benefit women most, because it is they who encounter most difficulties in accessing external inputs or subsidies. But their ability to benefit should not be treated as automatic; it requires that affirmative action directed specifically towards women be taken.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Acroecology and the right to food 2011, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- [As part of their obligation to devote the maximum of their available resources to the progressive realization of the right to food, States should implement public policies supporting the adoption of agroecological practices by:] supporting decentralized participatory research and the dissemination of knowledge about the best sustainable agricultural practices by relying on existing farmers' organisations and networks, and including schemes designed specifically for women;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Assessing a decade of progress on the right to food 2013, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Social audits can also be an effective means of empowering women within the local communities, if their views are sought expressly and if the community auditing exercise is considered valid only once they are adequately represented. Importantly, such social audits can go beyond the local-level service provider. Where the reason for faulty delivery resides in inadequate allocations from the centre, social audits can strengthen the position of local service providers vis-à-vis other levels of government.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Human rights criteria for making contract farming and other business models inclusive of small-scale farmers 2011, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Women have less access to contract farming than men. A study found that in the Kenyan horticulture export industry, women comprised fewer than 10 per cent of contracted farmers, and in a sample of 59 contract farmers for French beans exported from Senegal, only one was a woman. The ability of women to benefit from contract farming is determined by their rights over land and by the power relationships both within households or, when the contract is negotiated through representatives of the community or the farmers' organizations, within those groups. Indeed, even where most of the work is in fact performed by the wife and other family members, it is not unusual for the contract to be signed by the husband, as head of the household, as is seen in sugar contract farming in South Africa or in vegetable contract farming in the Indian Punjab. In addition, studies suggest that women lose control over decision-making when crops are produced for cash rather than for local consumption. While women decide about the use of food produced for self-consumption, they do not decide how the income of the household is spent. Therefore, unless the framework for contract farming respects women's rights and is gender sensitive, it will undermine gender equality. Research done on bean contract farming in Kenya shows, for instance, that while women performed most of the work, they received a limited portion of the revenues from the contract. In addition, where they did receive cash, they were expected to contribute to household expenditures even when this would have been the husband's responsibility. Strengthening the position of women is not only a matter of guaranteeing the right to equality of treatment, but also a means of improving productivity, since women receiving a greater proportion of the crop income will have a greater incentive to increase production. Moreover, household food security and children's health, nutrition and education all gain from improved income for women, in comparison to the gains that result from improved income for men. The more women decide on how to spend household income, the more it is usually spent on children's needs; a child's chance of survival increases by 20 per cent when the mother controls the household budget (see A/HRC/13/32, para. 58).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Human rights criteria for making contract farming and other business models inclusive of small-scale farmers 2011, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Collective ownership models can give small-scale farmers more autonomy over their land and production than traditional contract farming arrangements and can also cut out middlemen that might take a large percentage of earnings. Collective farming can also empower women farmers, strengthen their claims to land and protect their right to work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Impact of climate change on the right to food 2015, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- In addition to the many challenges they face in relation to food production, women face significant barriers in tackling climate change because of their gender. Their vulnerability to climate change-related risks is exacerbated by discriminatory practices in the agricultural sector, where gender discrimination may affect women's access to financing, technical support and other necessary resources. They may also have less bargaining power in or be excluded from decision-making on land use or preparedness and adaptation strategies. Migration as a result of natural disasters, climate change and conflict also has a disproportionate effect on women, increasing the difficulties of providing for their families, including children and the elderly. This affects in particular women living in rural areas and among the urban poor.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Impact of climate change on the right to food 2015, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- The empowerment of women by way of education, secure property rights and technology is paramount to tackling climate change and at the same time eliminating hunger and poverty by using the knowledge and experience of local women. At the national and local levels, rights-based practices can contribute to climate justice. For example, women in Maradi, Niger, traditionally lacked access to rights, making them particularly vulnerable to food crises caused by recurrent droughts. Rights-based approaches have been used at the community level to improve women's access to and control over land as well as their access to information and credit. Enabling women to adapt their agricultural practices improves household nutrition and generates income. Helping women and other vulnerable groups to claim their rights is therefore essential to climate justice. Similarly, the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, in Behar, India, organized a series of training programmes to promote women's empowerment and leadership to fill the knowledge gap in climate change.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Impact of climate change on the right to food 2015, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- As outlined in the present report, there is a need to encourage a major shift from current industrial agriculture to transformative activities such as conservation agriculture (agroecology) that support the local food movement, protect smallholder farmers, empower women, respect food democracy, maintain environmental sustainability and facilitate a healthy diet.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- Since the 1945 - UN Charter, equality between men and women has been among the most fundamental guarantees of human rights. The same principles of equality and non-discrimination are at the core of the two Covenants, namely on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Both Covenants in their respective article 3, oblige States Parties to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of their civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) offers guidance on the State obligations to ensure gender equality and non-discrimination in the enjoyment of all human rights. Its article 14 on Rural Women introduces concrete measures to create an enabling environment for women to enjoy equal treatment, in particular, in relation to land and agrarian reform as well as in land resettlement schemes. The Convention also guarantees adequate nutrition for women during pregnancy and lactation (art. 12). The CEDAW provides good guidance on how violations of economic, social and cultural rights may be experienced by women in various social contexts and helps illustrate the need for an integrated approach when addressing women's economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to food.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- Notwithstanding the legal framework designed to protect them, women experience poverty and hunger at disproportionate levels. Institutionalized gender discrimination and violence still impose barriers that prevent women from enjoying their economic, social and cultural rights and specifically the right to adequate food and nutrition, and the status of women and girls has not substantially improved, despite recurrent calls for the inclusion of a gender perspective to development programs and to social policies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- On the other hand, female farmers are responsible for cultivating, ploughing and harvesting more than 50% of the world's food. In sub Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, women produce up to 80% of basic foodstuffs and in Asia women constitute 50-90 percent of the labour force dedicated to rice production. Moreover, in many parts of the world majority of female farmers mainly engaged in subsistence farming.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- Although women produce and provide food they are often the last ones to access food for themselves. Women tend to remain invisible in decision-making processes and women are rarely an individual rights-holders, rather than a community members, mothers, farmers or care givers. Indeed, gender gaps are observed in access to all productive resources, such as land, seeds, fertilizers, pest control measures and mechanical tools, credit and extension services. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), "…inequalities between men and women in their access to productive resources, services and opportunities are one of the causes of underperformance in the agriculture sector, and contribute to deficiencies in food and nutrition security, economic growth and overall development."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Improving this situation for women would lead to important advantages for society as a whole. It is estimated that closing the gender gap in agricultural yields would increase agricultural output in developing countries by between 2.5 and 4 percent. This in turn, could reduce the number of undernourished people in the world in the order of 12-17 percent, or as much as 150 million people.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- Considering the vital importance of women to the global food systems, as well as, to family budgets, this report will first outline the persistent discrimination and structural barriers that women and girls face in several fields. Despite the recognition of the vital role of women in international human rights law and policies, the situation of women with regards to implementation of right to food remains critical. This report will deal with the cultural, legal, economic, and ecological barriers that hinder the equal implementation of the right to food. It further addresses the positive role that women can play in developing solution to the posed challenges such as eliminating hunger, maintaining food security and preserving natural resources. The report particularly focuses on the importance of gender-sensitive policies in the context of climate change, and the particular vulnerability of rural women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Women are disadvantaged on several social levels, largely due to the influence of patriarchal systems. All societies practice some form of social structuring based on gender roles and the impact of this has major ramifications in developing countries where resources are especially scarce. Social stratification affects women's right to produce food by preventing them from accessing the inputs of production. This can occur either as a result of discriminatory legal barriers or from the way the market forces operate, putting women in a disadvantaged position. Women are also affected by these patriarchal structures that facilitate unequal treatment in the labour market. Even where women's equal legal rights exist, these often fail to supersede structural barriers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- For example, indigenous women living in rural areas are more likely to be particularly disadvantaged in terms of the fulfillment of their rights, a trend seen in Sub-Saharan Africa where indigenous women lack access the same level of rights to land, health, and education as non-indigenous women of this country.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- 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. 13
- Paragraph text
- Structural violence is an under-examined barrier to women's right to adequate food and nutrition. Gender-based violence, which is a primary form of discrimination, impedes women from engaging in their own right to adequate food and nutrition, and efforts to overcome hunger and malnutrition. Some men control women's behavior and monitor women's food work in households. A woman's perceived failure to adequately prepare food and meals is a common justification for "disciplinary" action.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The reasons behind the failure to women's access to adequate food can arguably be linked to two structural disconnects which exist at the crossroads between Women's Rights and the Right to Food. The first disconnect refers to the failure in international law to fully endow women with their right to food. In the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) and the ICESCR, the right to food is accorded to himself and his family. Although the ICESCR General Comment 12 and other documents have underscored the non-discriminatory intention of the right to food, the archaic language of patriarchy taints the UDHR and treaty language. Concurrently the economic and social rights of the ICESCR are generally reviewed in CEDAW, but not the right to food, which is indirectly touched upon only through a call for rural women. In CEDAW, as in the Convention of the Rights of Child (CRC), food access and adequacy for adult women and teenage girls are addressed only on behalf of pregnant and breastfeeding females .
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Women additionally face numerous legal barriers in domestic law, which prevents them from fully realizing their right to food, including property rights, land rights and intellectual property rights. These legal barriers also prevent women from maintaining livelihoods that provide sustainable incomes necessary to purchase food, thus challenging women's right to food and ability to achieve food security.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Rather than enabling women to secure stable livelihoods, both formal and customary laws are often barriers to women's economic independence. As noted by the FAO, "credit markets are not gender-neutral", and women may find themselves prohibited from entering into contracts, opening bank accounts, or from entering into loan agreements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- 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
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- One of the most substantial factors enabling women to thrive as food producers - either for income support or subsistence - is women's ability to own and access land. Unfortunately, the exclusion of women from land ownership is a global phenomenon. The share of landholdings, owned by women in Africa, ranges from than 5% to 30%. In a recent study on the situation of women and their right to land in Central America, researchers found that in all countries, laws exist that recognize that equality of rights between men and women. Despite this, a profound gap remains between formal equality and equality in practice. This gap results in women owning less land, which tends to be of worse quality and with less judicial security. Central American women only have access to between 12% and 23% of land.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The Philippines also demonstrates discriminatory land distribution. While the country legally allows women to own land, the "invisibility" of women within the food production system has created structural barriers that prevent them from accessing productive resources. There is a correlation between land ownership and access to productive resources including credit, inputs, varieties of seeds and inorganic fertilizers, farming equipment, and extension services including credit. As a result, less than 3 percent of women who work in the agriculture and fisheries sectors in the Philippines benefit from support services such as credit, seeds, training, and access to technology, therefore making it almost impossible to secure a sustainable income and livelihood.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Women's property ownership is a significant indicator of poverty, and a key factor in securing increased participation in household decision making. Granting women the autonomy to make everyday choices has been proven to improve reproductive health, family nutrition, and child welfare. Land ownership also helps strengthen women's roles in community affairs and women's bargaining power.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph