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Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- The Optional Protocol is intended to complement rather than replace national legal systems and should not be considered as the principal means of seeking justice. The Optional Protocol grants individuals, or groups of individuals under the jurisdiction of a State party, the right to submit communications about alleged violations of any economic, social or cultural right to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 2).
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Constitutional provisions and framework laws can be effective means of promoting the progressive realization of the right to food at the domestic level. The adoption of sectoral legislation will ensure that States adequately address various sectors that impact significantly on various dimensions of food security.
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- A rights-based approach to food security is paramount to ensure that the fundamental right to be free from hunger is upheld, with States obliged to do everything in their power to guarantee that everyone has access at all times to adequate, safe and nutrient-rich food in order to lead healthy lives. Yet, despite the fact that the right to food has been enshrined in international law, many States remain reluctant to recognize it and to constitutionalize it as a basic right with justiciable effect.
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- A lack of awareness of legal rights and entitlements, as well as the State's obligations and duties to protect these rights, is a major barrier to achieving the enjoyment of the full range of rights, including economic, social and cultural rights. General knowledge and understanding of judicial and adjudicatory mechanisms as a means of enforcing basic rights is severely lacking in many countries.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 72a
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] For those that have not already done so, ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as a matter of priority;
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 72f
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Ensure that everyone, without discrimination, is afforded access to social protection as a means of offering economic, social, and cultural rights;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 72j
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Develop the necessary legal structure in order to protect resources directly related to the right to access adequate and nutritious food, such as water sources, access to land and seed production;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Acroecology and the right to food 2011, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- In the past, Green Revolution approaches have focused primarily on boosting cereal crops. However, rice, wheat and maize are mainly sources of carbohydrates: they contain relatively little protein, and few of the other nutrients essential for adequate diets. The shift from diversified cropping systems to simplified cereal-based systems thus contributed to micronutrient malnutrition in many developing countries. Indeed, of the over 80,000 plant species available to humans, rice, wheat and maize supply the bulk of our protein and energy needs. Nutritionists now increasingly insist on the need for more diverse agro-ecosystems, in order to ensure a more diversified nutrient output of the farming systems.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Acroecology and the right to food 2011, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- [The research community, including centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and the Global Forum on Agricultural Research, should:] assess projects on the basis of a comprehensive set of performance criteria (impacts on incomes, resource efficiency, impacts on hunger and malnutrition, empowerment of beneficiaries, etc.) with indicators appropriately disaggregated by population to allow monitoring improvements in the status of vulnerable populations, taking into account the requirements of the right to food, in addition to classical agronomical measures.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Assessing a decade of progress on the right to food 2013, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The right to food seeks to ensure access to adequate diets. Although access is necessary for individuals to be adequately nourished, it is not the only requirement. Obviously, food availability is also required (which necessitates appropriate functioning of markets to ensure that foodstuffs can travel from the producers to the markets and from food-surplus regions to food-deficit regions). Access to health-care services and sanitation, as well as adequate feeding practices, are also essential. In this regard, the right to food is also closely connected to the right to health and to what is described as adequate "utilization".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Assessing a decade of progress on the right to food 2013, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Policies aimed at eradicating hunger and malnutrition that are grounded in the right to food shall redefine as legal entitlements benefits that have traditionally been seen as voluntary handouts from States. The right to food requires that schemes providing benefits, whether guaranteeing access to food or promoting agricultural and rural development and national social protection floors, be consolidated into legal entitlements, clearly identifying the beneficiaries and providing them with access to redress mechanisms if they are excluded. In the same spirit, paragraph 7 of International Labour Organization (ILO) Recommendation No. 202 concerning national floors of social protection provides that "national laws and regulations [establishing basic social security guarantees] should specify the range, qualifying conditions and levels of the benefits giving effect to these guarantees. Impartial, transparent, effective, simple, rapid, accessible and inexpensive complaint and appeal procedures should also be specified. Access to complaint and appeal procedures should be free of charge to the applicant. Systems should be in place that enhance compliance with national legal frameworks".
- 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
- 2013
Paragraph
Assessing a decade of progress on the right to food 2013, para. 58i
- Paragraph text
- [In particular, the Special Rapporteur encourages:] The FAO Committee on World Food Security to serve as a catalyst to accelerate progress towards the establishment of legal, institutional and policy frameworks that are conducive to the full realization of the right to food for all, and to use the review of the implementation of the Right to Food Guidelines at its forty-first session in 2014 to encourage all member States to make effective use of the right to food to eradicate hunger and malnutrition;
- 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
- 2013
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The present report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food was written in collaboration with the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. Pesticides, which have been aggressively promoted, are a global human rights concern, and their use can have very detrimental consequences on the enjoyment of the right to food. Defined as any substance or mixture of substances of chemical and biological ingredients intended to repel, destroy or control any pest or regulate plant growth, pesticides are responsible for an estimated 200,000 acute poisoning deaths each year, 99 per cent of which occur in developing countries, where health, safety and environmental regulations are weaker and less strictly applied. While records on global pesticide use are incomplete, it is generally agreed that application rates have increased dramatically over the past few decades.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- Despite the harms associated with excessive and unsafe pesticide practices, it is commonly argued that intensive industrial agriculture, which is heavily reliant on pesticide inputs, is necessary to increase yields to feed a growing world population, particularly in the light of negative climate change impacts and global scarcity of farmlands. Indeed, over the past 50 years, the global population has more than doubled, while available arable land has only increased by about 10 per cent. Evolving technology in pesticide manufacture, among other agricultural innovations, has certainly helped to keep agricultural production apace of unprecedented jumps in food demand. However, this has come at the expense of human health and the environment. Equally, increased food production has not succeeded in eliminating hunger worldwide. Reliance on hazardous pesticides is a short-term solution that undermines the rights to adequate food and health for present and future generations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- While scientific research confirms the adverse effects of pesticides, proving a definitive link between exposure and human diseases or conditions, or harm to the ecosystem presents a considerable challenge. This challenge has been exacerbated by a systematic denial, fuelled by the pesticide and agroindustry, of the magnitude of the damage inflicted by these chemicals, and aggressive, unethical marketing tactics remain unchallenged.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Without or with minimal use of toxic chemicals, it is possible to produce healthier, nutrient-rich food, with higher yields in the longer term, without polluting and exhausting environmental resources. The solution requires a holistic approach to the right to adequate food that includes phasing out dangerous pesticides and enforcing an effective regulatory framework grounded on a human rights approach, coupled with a transition towards sustainable agricultural practices that take into account the challenges of resource scarcity and climate change.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- Hazardous pesticides impose substantial costs on Governments and have catastrophic impacts on the environment, human health and society as a whole, implicating a number of human rights and putting certain groups at elevated risk of rights abuses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Few people are untouched by pesticide exposure. They may be exposed through food, water, air, or direct contact with pesticides or residues. However, given that most diseases are multi-causal, and bearing in mind that individuals tend to be exposed to a complex mixture of chemicals in their daily lives, establishing a direct causal link between exposure to pesticides and their effects can be a challenge for accountability and for victims seeking access to an effective remedy. Even so, persistent use of pesticides, in particular agrochemicals used in industrial farming, have been connected to a range of adverse health impacts, both at high and low exposure levels.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Unfortunately, there are no reliable, global statistics on the number of people who suffer from pesticide exposure. Recently, the non-profit organization Pesticide Action Network estimated that the number of people affected annually by short- and long-term pesticide exposure ranged between 1 million and 41 million.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Traces may remain on fruits and vegetables that are extensively treated with pesticides before they reach the consumer. The highest levels of pesticides are often found in legumes, leafy greens and fruits such as apples, strawberries and grapes. While washing and cooking produce reduces residue levels, food preparation can sometimes increase these levels. Also, many pesticides used today are systemic — taken up through the roots and distributed throughout the plant — and therefore washing will have no effect.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Pesticides contaminate and degrade soil to varying degrees. In China, recent studies released by the Government show moderate to severe contamination from pesticides and other pollutants on 26 million hectares of farmland, to the extent that farming cannot continue on approximately 20 per cent of arable land.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- 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
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Indeed, article 12 of the International Covenant provides a right to the highest attainable level of health and obligates States to take measures to improve all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene. In its general comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee embraces the notion that the right extends to the underlying determinants of health, such as safe food, potable water, safe and healthy working conditions and a healthy environment. It also notes that the obligation to improve industrial and environmental hygiene essentially entails the right to a healthy workplace, including the prevention and reduction of exposure to harmful substances, and the minimization of the causes of health hazards inherent in the workplace. With regard to pesticide exposure, human rights law underlines the obligation on States to ensure that people live and work in safe and healthy environments and have access to safe and clean food and water. As such, exposure to pesticides, whether at work, as a bystander or via residue found on food or in water, would violate a person’s right to the highest attainable level of health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- 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. 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. 65
- Paragraph text
- Conventions of the International Labour Organization on the protection of agricultural workers also provide some safeguards against dangerous pesticides. For example, article 12 of the Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 (No. 184) is dedicated to the sound management of chemicals, while article 13 imposes regulatory obligations with regard to preventive and protective measures for the use of chemicals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Many developing countries have shifted their agricultural policies from traditional food production for local consumption to export-oriented cash crops. Under strong pressure to maximize yields, farmers have become increasingly reliant on chemical pesticides. Yet the steep rise in the use of pesticides has not always been accompanied by necessary safeguards to control their application. Approximately 25 per cent of developing countries lack effective laws on distribution and use, while about 80 per cent lack sufficient resources to enforce existing pesticide-related laws.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
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. 77
- Paragraph text
- Personal protective equipment may be unsuitable for local working conditions, for example extreme heat and humidity, steep terrain and thick vegetation. Other factors may include pressure to work as fast as possible, lack of training on the health risks of exposure or trainings conducted in non-native languages, coupled with high turnover of workers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- The tragedy led to the worldwide development of major reforms, including the above-mentioned Responsible Care initiative. Such initiatives, however, have not succeeded in halting continued disasters related to the manufacture of pesticides worldwide.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph