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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk conveyed to the Committee on World Food Security on Monday that while legal instruments safeguarding the fundamental right to food have been strengthened in recent years, these theoretical protections have yet to manifest into access to adequate, or consistent food for over a quarter of the world’s population.
Türk indicated that the global food supply has increased steadily and sits at a historic high, yet vulnerable populations are still facing intense food insecurity, largely due to injustice and a denial of human rights. This includes policies that enable mass food waste, corporate monopolies on agricultural goods, disparate impacts of climate change, and “conflict-driven destruction” during times of war.
“Equitable access to land, water, and seeds, and meaningful climate action, are crucial to the wellbeing of rural communities and to the health of our food systems,” said Türk.
The right to adequate food is an universally recognized human right, codified under the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This treaty, legally binding on 173 countries, incorporates and sets the legal foundation to ensure that everyone has access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.
However, it is the duty of States themselves to fulfil their obligations under the ICESCR, and although enforcement has strengthened since the treaty’s inception, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN has pointed out that there is no uniform standard for incorporating the protection of the right to food into domestic law and policy for a plethora of reasons, including the lack of political will and existing legal obstacles.
In a separate address to the Committee, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Sofía Monsalve Suárez indicated this legal framework surrounding food insecurity should be re-examined, particularly in the way of accountability and prevention of famine during armed conflict.
She conveyed that while chronic hunger has decreased globally, acute hunger has been rising steadily over the last decade. Today, 266 million people face acute hunger, a number that is most attributable to the “rapid increase in famine and the use of starvation as a weapon of war.” This is expressly prohibited under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), the body of law that protects the rights of civilians and governs conduct during armed conflict. In theory, IHL prevents the use of famine or starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, however Súarez and Türk indicated that these laws are not being obeyed in practice, as conflict is currently driving acute hunger in 12 of the 13 current hunger hotspots.
In 2023, experts expressed concern over parties depriving civilians of food and water as a method of war during the conflict in Gaza, indicating that it was a catastrophic issue that may rise to the level of collective punishment.
Moving forward, Türk and Súarez have called for equitable access to land and water, as well as a stronger framework to hold actors accountable for human rights violations, alongside increased collaboration between the UN Security Council (UNSC), the Committee on World Food Security, and food security monitors.
The post Injustice and denial of human rights are causing mass global food insecurity, UN rights chief says appeared first on JURIST - News.
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Türk indicated that the global food supply has increased steadily and sits at a historic high, yet vulnerable populations are still facing intense food insecurity, largely due to injustice and a denial of human rights. This includes policies that enable mass food waste, corporate monopolies on agricultural goods, disparate impacts of climate change, and “conflict-driven destruction” during times of war.
“Equitable access to land, water, and seeds, and meaningful climate action, are crucial to the wellbeing of rural communities and to the health of our food systems,” said Türk.
The right to adequate food is an universally recognized human right, codified under the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This treaty, legally binding on 173 countries, incorporates and sets the legal foundation to ensure that everyone has access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.
However, it is the duty of States themselves to fulfil their obligations under the ICESCR, and although enforcement has strengthened since the treaty’s inception, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN has pointed out that there is no uniform standard for incorporating the protection of the right to food into domestic law and policy for a plethora of reasons, including the lack of political will and existing legal obstacles.
In a separate address to the Committee, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Sofía Monsalve Suárez indicated this legal framework surrounding food insecurity should be re-examined, particularly in the way of accountability and prevention of famine during armed conflict.
She conveyed that while chronic hunger has decreased globally, acute hunger has been rising steadily over the last decade. Today, 266 million people face acute hunger, a number that is most attributable to the “rapid increase in famine and the use of starvation as a weapon of war.” This is expressly prohibited under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), the body of law that protects the rights of civilians and governs conduct during armed conflict. In theory, IHL prevents the use of famine or starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, however Súarez and Türk indicated that these laws are not being obeyed in practice, as conflict is currently driving acute hunger in 12 of the 13 current hunger hotspots.
In 2023, experts expressed concern over parties depriving civilians of food and water as a method of war during the conflict in Gaza, indicating that it was a catastrophic issue that may rise to the level of collective punishment.
Moving forward, Türk and Súarez have called for equitable access to land and water, as well as a stronger framework to hold actors accountable for human rights violations, alongside increased collaboration between the UN Security Council (UNSC), the Committee on World Food Security, and food security monitors.
The post Injustice and denial of human rights are causing mass global food insecurity, UN rights chief says appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.