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Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- One of the most catastrophic incidents involving pesticides occurred in 1984 in Bhopal, India, where approximately 45 tons of methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a Union Carbide plant as a result of negligence, immediately killing thousands of people and resulting in serious health issues and premature deaths for tens of thousands living in the vicinity. Epidemiological studies conducted soon after the accident showed significant increases in pregnancy loss, infant mortality, decreased fetal weight, chromosomal abnormalities, impaired associate learning and respiratory illnesses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Pregnant women who are exposed to pesticides are at higher risk of miscarriage, pre-term delivery and birth defects. Studies have regularly found a cocktail of pesticides in umbilical cords and first faeces of newborns, proving prenatal exposure. Exposure to pesticides can be transferred from either parent. The most critical period for exposure for the father is three months prior to conception, while maternal exposure is most dangerous from the month before conception through the first trimester of pregnancy. Recent evidence suggests that pesticide exposure by pregnant mothers leads to higher risk of childhood leukaemia and other cancers, autism and respiratory illnesses. For example, neurotoxic pesticides can cross the placental barrier and affect the developing nervous system of the fetus, while other toxic chemicals can adversely impact its undeveloped immune system.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 107e
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Enact safety measures to ensure adequate protections for pregnant women, children and other groups who are particularly susceptible to pesticide exposure;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Pesticides can also pass through breast milk. This is particularly worrying, as breast milk is the only source of food for many babies and their metabolism is not well developed to fight against hazardous chemicals. Pesticides are also found in baby formula, or in the water with which it is mixed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights noted in a 2001 report on prisons in Malawi that prisons were not safe place for pregnant women, babies and young children and that it was not advisable to separate babies and young children from their mothers. Even very short periods in detention settings can undermine a child's psychological and physical well-being, compromise cognitive development and result in higher rates of suicide, self-harm, mental disorders and developmental problems (A/HRC/28/68). Children living in prison with their mothers may be at heightened risk of suffering violence, abuse and conditions of confinement that amount to torture or ill-treatment. In this context, the imprisonment of pregnant women and women with young children must be reduced to a minimum.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- 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
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- The right to health includes a right to health care. Health care is closely connected to all the targets in Goal 3 and directly reflected in the targets to achieve universal health coverage (target 3.8) and ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services (target 3.7). The relationship between universal health coverage and the right to health is explored further below, while the right to sexual and reproductive health care has been elaborated in general comments Nos. 14 and 22 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as in a number of previous reports by the mandate holder (see E/CN.4/2004/49, A/66/254, A/HRC/14/20 and A/HRC/32/32). The right to health can also support and be supported by such targets as the reduction of maternal and newborn and under-5 mortality rates (targets 3.1 and 3.2) and of the incidence of communicable and non-communicable diseases (targets 3.3 and 3.4), the promotion of mental health (target 3.4) and the reduction of the number of deaths from road traffic accidents (target 3.6).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- 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. 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
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Review at the national and subnational levels should take place within existing national structures and processes, including national human rights institutions, policy review processes, comprehensive maternal death audits, patient's rights tribunals, and litigation. For example, national human rights institutions provide accountability for the right-to-health-related Sustainable Development Goals, including by undertaking national assessments and enquiries and by participating in other domestic and international review processes, offering advice to Governments on promoting and protecting rights in national implementation plans and on rights-based implementation, including through support for the development and use of human rights impact assessments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Water, sanitation and hygiene needs are critical to prevent high maternal and newborn mortality rates. In its recently adopted general comment No. 22 (2016) on the right to sexual and reproductive health, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights notes that access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation, as well as access to health-related education and information, are the underlying determinants to that right. Collaboration among sectors makes it possible to exchange information on how to deliver education on culturally taboo topics and to give greater priority to female-specific needs, in a manner that the water, sanitation and hygiene sector alone cannot achieve.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106h
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Prevent instrumentalization of women in the birthing process and ensure that penalties are incurred for gynaecological or obstetrical violence, including performing abusive caesarean sections, refusing to give women pain relief during birth or surgical termination of pregnancy and performing unnecessary episiotomies;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 39d
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should safeguard the right of rural women and girls to adequate health care, and ensure:] The systematic and regular monitoring of the health and nutritional status of pregnant women and new mothers, especially adolescent mothers, and their infants. In case of malnutrition or lack of access to clean water, extra food rations and drinking water should be provided systematically throughout pregnancy and lactation;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106g
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Regulate birthing facilities to ensure respect for women's autonomy and privacy and human dignity, including respect for women's choice regarding home deliveries provided there are no specific medical contraindications;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Rural women are overrepresented among agricultural workers in many regions, exposing them to increased health risks linked to the improper and extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides by various actors, resulting in illnesses, early deaths, pregnancy complications, fetal disorders and physical and developmental disorders in infants and children. Those risks are compounded by their underrepresentation in agricultural cooperatives, farmers' and producers' organizations, land administration and rural workers' organizations, and their limited access to extension services.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Health
- 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. 11
- Paragraph text
- Women who are lactating and pregnant require an even more nutrient-rich diet. To ensure the health of the fetus, a diet consisting of at least 20 per cent protein and higher levels of iron, folate and calcium is essential. Malnourished mothers are more likely to give birth to underweight babies, who in turn are 20 per cent more likely to die before the age of 5. Diets that consist of less than 6 per cent protein in utero have been linked with many deficits, including decreased brain weight, obesity and impaired brain communication.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition is one of the leading private networks focusing on malnutrition reduction, mainly through fortification, supported largely by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Several allegations of conflict of interest have been made against the Alliance. In particular, organizations working to address infant malnutrition questioned whether its work was motivated primarily by efforts to open new markets for its members. An effective, independent evaluation mechanism is needed for balancing private sector involvement in nutrition policies.
- 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
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Universal health coverage is a key dimension of the 2030 Agenda commitment towards achieving healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages. Goal 3 includes an explicit commitment to "achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all" (target 3.8) and to "ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes" (target 3.7).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- In 2011 the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non Communicable Diseases initiated action to tackle malnutrition comprehensively, including unbalanced nutrition and obesity. In 2012, the World Health Assembly endorsed six global nutrition targets to improve maternal, infant and young child nutrition by 2025. Commitment to reach those targets was reaffirmed at the Second International Conference on Nutrition, held in Rome in 2014.
- 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
- Children
- Infants
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- In many States, children born with atypical sex characteristics are often subject to irreversible sex assignment, involuntary sterilization and genital normalizing surgery, which are performed without their informed consent or that of their parents, leaving them with permanent, irreversible infertility, causing severe mental suffering and contributing to stigmatization. In some cases, taboo and stigma lead to the killing of intersex infants.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 72b
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to abuses in health-care settings, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Decriminalize abortion and ensure access to legal and safe abortions, at a minimum in cases of rape, incest and severe or fatal fetal impairment and where the life or physical or mental health of the mother is at risk;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- At the same time, there were 41 million overweight children under the age of 5. If this trend continues, 70 million infants and young children will be overweight or obese by 2025. Economic and cultural factors contribute to childhood obesity. Energy-dense foods are often more affordable and aggressively marketed towards children, while some cultures may associate higher weights in children with being healthy.
- 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
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- Other myths seek an explanation in existing traditional beliefs associated with childbirth. It has been reported, for example, that the birth of children with albinism could be linked to the "snake inside the woman" turning away from that pregnancy. The snake is considered the protector of the pregnancy, monitoring it. Other explanations are that a child born with albinism was conceived when a woman had intercourse while she was menstruating. Further, some mythological beliefs seek to explain the condition by advancing that the mother of the child with albinism was struck by lightning or that albinism occurs when a mother does not consume enough salt in her diet.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Studies often link the prevalence of skin cancer to factors such as the lack of basic understanding of albinism, particularly by persons with albinism and their families. For example, it is not uncommon for parents to put a newborn with albinism out in the sun for hours. Displaced persons with albinism are exposed to a heightened risk of skin cancer as they are mostly outside of their usual environment and have limited means to address their health needs. Also at particular risk of developing skin cancer are persons with albinism who work outdoors, such as farmers or traders. Such outdoor occupations also emphasize the link between the risk of contracting skin cancer and poverty.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Infants
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Pregnant women and women that have recently given birth and are still recovering from complications arising from labour are particularly vulnerable to the risk of infection related to a lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene. The Special Rapporteur's recent country visit to Tajikistan revealed the absence of a running water supply and adequate sanitation facilities in hospitals in the country. In addition, the Special Rappporteur testified, during his visit to Botswana, that a clinic situated in an area facing serious drought was still going through a procurement process to buy a water tank. In such critical places, where the most vulnerable persons are treated, measures must be upheld in contingency plans and implemented in advance. States must prioritize the provision to health centres of adequate water, hygiene and sanitation facilities, with the necessary budget allocations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination is sometimes manifested in humiliating treatment women that may face in facilities that are dedicated exclusively to them, such as birthing facilities where, as repeatedly stressed by United Nations human rights mechanisms and WHO, they are too often subjected to degrading and sometimes violent treatment.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph