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Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Exposure to pesticides can have severe impacts on the enjoyment of human rights, in particular the right to adequate food, as well as the right to health. The right to food obligates States to implement protective measures and food safety requirements to ensure that food is safe, free from pesticides and qualitatively adequate. Furthermore, human rights standards require States to protect vulnerable groups, such as farm workers and agricultural communities, children and pregnant women from the impacts of pesticides.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 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. 95
- Paragraph text
- Agroecological farming can help secure livelihoods for smallholder farmers and those living in poverty, including women, because there is no heavy reliance on expensive external inputs. If properly managed, biodiversity and efficient use of resources can enable smallholder farms to be more productive per hectare than large industrial farms (A/HRC/16/49).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work 2017, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The Commission recognizes the important role and contribution of rural women and girls to poverty eradication, sustainable development and food security and nutrition, especially in poor and vulnerable households. The Commission also recognizes the importance of the empowerment of rural women and their full, equal and effective participation at all levels of decision-making.
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work 2017, para. 40 (ee)
- Paragraph text
- Strengthen and support the contributions of rural women and women farmers to the agricultural sector, food security and nutrition and the economic well-being of their families and communities, and to enhancing agricultural and rural development, including small-scale farming, and ensure that they have equal access to agricultural technologies, through investments and the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms, and innovation in small-scale agricultural production and distribution, supported by integrated and multisectoral policies that improve productive capacity and incomes and strengthen their resilience, and address the existing gaps in and barriers to trading their agricultural products in local, regional and international markets;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- While certain States have taken encouraging steps, most national systems to combat malnutrition are fragmented and lack effective action, evaluation and accountability mechanisms. It is imperative that responses move away from isolated interventions and "medicalized" approaches to fighting malnutrition. In line with their obligations under the international human rights system, States must acknowledge the underlying causes of malnutrition and develop multisectoral approaches to coordinate nutrition policies with health, housing, water and sanitation, social protection, poverty and inequality reduction initiatives. Moreover, it must be recognized that, to effectively combat malnutrition, women's rights should be at the forefront.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Oxfam researchers found that adaptation projects aimed at women created under Burkina Faso's National Action Programme for Adaptation (NAPA) sought to diversity the ways that women can generate income to offset income lost by harvests damaged by climate change. In order to rectify these consequences, individuals and organizations need to be better educated on the different vulnerabilities that men and women face in disasters, and local women's organizations need to be consulted in order to understand region-specific contexts. Moreover, such attempts could have ancillary positive effects, as developing credit systems to aid families during times of famine, strengthening women's organizations that promote adaptation measures, and addressing larger issues could prevent gender inequality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- In all adaptation projects women should be granted access to the same level of technology and financing as men. This will help women change agricultural practices as well as preserve livelihoods during times of drought. Addressing issues of resource management and land ownership will also improve women's chances against climate change. Ultimately, communities must take a "bottom-up" approach in order to accurately understand local customs and to incorporate local knowledge; applying a model that relies upon opinions from international institutions or outside groups will not be as effective.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- 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. 14
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, girls and adolescent women induced by tradition or forced into child marriage and adolescent pregnancy, suffer the consequences of a high work burden and deprivation of their child rights, including their right to adequate nutrition and education. They are required to perform heavy amounts of domestic work, and are responsible for raising children while still children themselves. Adolescent pregnancy is a typical outcome of child marriage and complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the second cause of death for 15-19 year-old girls globally.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 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
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- The underlying causes of malnutrition are complex and multidimensional, and access to nutritious food is often a key indicator of socioeconomic inequality. Women and children are particularly sensitive to malnutrition, while poverty, gender inequality and lack of access to adequate sanitation, health and education services are aggravating factors. Today's food systems, which are dominated by industrial production and processing, as well as trade liberalization and aggressive marketing strategies, are fostering unhealthy eating habits and creating a dependence on highly processed, nutrient-poor foods. Unequal access to and control over resources, as well as unsustainable production and consumption patterns, which lead to environmental degradation and climate change, also contribute to the malfunctioning of food systems.3
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 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
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- Raising tariffs on imported foods and drinks classified as "unhealthy" are another tool, used for example by the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Nauru and Samoa. Others have lowered import tariffs on "healthy" foods that are not procured locally. Targeted subsidies or price discounts can also enable people on low incomes to afford healthier food options. In the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, for example, low-income pregnant women and families receive vouchers to buy dairy and vegetables, and in the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program gives incentives to spend on fruits and vegetables.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- Women account for 70% of the world's hungry and are disproportionately affected by malnutrition and food insecurity. This ratio is overwhelming in some developing and Least Developed Countries, for example, more than one third of women in several South-Asian countries being underweight. Poor nutrition, lack of healthcare, social protection, limited economic opportunities and general neglect has excluded more women from global society than the number of men killed in 20th century wars, combined.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- 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. 32
- Paragraph text
- Unfortunately, the IPR regime disproportionately excludes women, particularly in the context of agriculture. For example, IPR tends to reward "high technology" but ignores the contributions that the female labour force makes to agricultural production. Meanwhile, the privatization of agricultural resources leads to increased monetization. Women are less likely than men to have discretionary income, and are therefore less able to afford expensive seeds that were once managed communally.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Non-corporate agricultural producers, and particularly women, have suffered from evolution in agricultural policy and economic trends over the past several decades. The devastating structural adjustment policies imposed throughout much of the developing world in the past decades, largely as a precondition of receiving development assistance or joining the global trade regime, have resulted in an overall loss in agricultural productivity, decreased yields, and increasingly precarious rural livelihoods.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- 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
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Women are responsible for much of the food cultivation and preparation of family meals, but they disproportionately lack access to adequate food and are more vulnerable to malnutrition. In its general recommendation No. 34, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women noted that rural women were among those most exposed to malnutrition and hunger. Patriarchal norms contribute to gender inequality, with women facing systemic discrimination in accessing land and natural resources, decision-making, education and health-care services and experiencing increased vulnerability to violations of their sexual and reproductive rights. Such factors impede their ability to provide adequately nutritious foods for themselves and their families, leading to intergenerational cycles of malnutrition.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- 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. 77
- Paragraph text
- Agro-ecology is a reaction against the agricultural policies promoted by the Green Revolution that have replaced traditional farming with GMO seeds, extreme use of fertilization, and intensive resource use. It offers an important means through which women farmers can adapt to climate change, recognizes women as legitimate actors, and opens spaces for women to become more autonomous and empowered at productive, reproductive, and community levels. At the same time, agro-ecology is a proven alternative farming method to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- With the increased commercialization of agriculture and highly technological improvements, farming systems are overly dependent on external inputs such as agrochemicals. Poor rural women and men farmers often spread risk by growing a wide variety of locally-adapted crops, some of which will be resistant to drought or pests, and livestock breeds that have adapted to the local agro ecological zone. Diversification, an important coping strategy adopted by poor rural households, also protects women against climate change, desertification, and other environmental stresses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Not enough agricultural research and development efforts have focused on options that meet women's specific needs and situations related to childcare, food preparation, and the collection of domestic water and energy resources. New research based on gender-disaggregated data shed light on gender differences in perceptions on climate change and the ability to adopt practices and technologies needed to increase resilience. These data also show that men and women have different preferences, needs, and priorities for the ways in which they respond to climate change. There is also a greater need for using gender-disaggregated data to inform evidence-based policy making as well as integrating a gender perspective into research on climate change and mitigation and adaptation strategies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- However, the broad category of female-headed households should be differentiated further, as households face different socio-economic circumstances, resulting in different outcomes regarding their livelihoods and food and nutrition security. Research among South African farmworkers revealed that certain female-headed households, although having less access to earned income compared to male-headed households, achieved greater food and nutrition security than comparable households with male headship. This was due to women having better access to social grants, remittances, and income obtained through informal work. This highlights the crucial role of women's access to resources and power relations within households for greater food and nutrition security.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- The greatest implication of the IPR regime on women and their right to food relates to seed saving, a practice that is both predominantly controlled by women and a critical component of small-scale, subsistence agriculture. Studies show that up to 90% of planting materials used in smallholder agriculture are seeds and germ plasms that are produced, selected, and saved by women. Seeds and seed banks are important for addressing the crisis of agricultural biodiversity, for ensuring sustainable livelihood solutions for food security, and for empowering women with a sustainable livelihood.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- Currently, rural women represent a quarter of the world's population. They play a crucial role in maintaining and improving rural livelihoods and strengthening rural communities. In recent years, the Committee has developed a significant body of jurisprudence on the rights of rural women and the challenges that they face, in particular through concluding observations. Several United Nations conferences have recognized the role of rural women in agriculture, rural development, food and nutrition, and poverty reduction. Hence, there is a need for further specific attention to rural women, as recognized in the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 62a
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should implement agricultural policies that support rural women farmers, recognize and protect the natural commons, promote organic farming and protect rural women from harmful pesticides and fertilizers. They should ensure that rural women have effective access to agricultural resources, including high-quality seeds, tools, knowledge and information, as well as equipment and resources for organic farming. In addition, States parties should:] Respect and protect rural women's traditional and eco-friendly agricultural knowledge, in particular the right of women to preserve, use and exchange traditional and native seeds;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- The human rights perspective should accommodate a gender analysis for food security, and allows focus on woman as an individual, rather than on the nation, the community, or the household. At the same time, gender analysis should include other social categories such as age, social status, race, ethnicity, and class. Adoption of the right to food approach together with gender base analysis would reveal discrimination and inequality of women in food production cycles and at household level in a more appropriate manner. A person's ability to acquire nutritious food is closely related to other aspects of the capabilities and rights. For women and girls, discriminatory laws, social norms, values and practices further affect access to food and food security. Moreover, unequal power relations between genders, penetrate both the private and the public sphere, and constrain the decision-making power of women and girls. The discrimination is reinforced when gender inequality is compounded with other forms of exclusion related to income, ethnicity or race.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- Over the last few decades, women have broadened and deepened their involvement in agricultural production as they increasingly shoulder the responsibility for household survival and respond to economic opportunities in commercial agriculture. This phenomenon brought the argument about gender gap in agriculture, where women's productivity as farmers falls behind that of men, and where women remains less food secure, despite their dominant role is food production. This gender gap occurs because of cultural, legal, and economic barriers, so and eliminating this discrepancy requires a holistic understanding that responds to structural discrimination and failed implementation of attempted solutions. For instance, while international development has focused on providing technical training and access to new agricultural technologies for women, there has been a lack of focus on providing women with land rights and sufficient financial resources. Moreover, women's responsibility in relation to household food security, simply feeding family and community is totally excluded from such technical and economistic solution.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph