Mr. Chairperson,

It is my great pleasure to yet again address the Commission on behalf of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on the subject of the right to adequate food.

More than three years ago, in November 1996, the World Food Summit gathered in Rome and adopted an ambitious yet realisable goal of halving the number of undernourished people in the world by the year 2015. It reaffirmed the right of everyone to adequate food in conformity with Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the fundamental right of everyone to freedom from hunger. The High Commissioner for Human rights was entrusted with a special mandate to better define the rights related to food, and propose ways for their implementation.

FAO is pleased to note that the High Commissioner, in cooperation with other relevant actors, has made considerable progress in the implementation of her mandate. The progress of her work is contained in her report to the Commission, E/CN.4/2000/48. The last year saw a seminar on the policies of rights based approaches to food and nutrition, the adoption of a general comment on the right to food by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and an updated study by the special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission, Mr Asbjorn Eide, on the right to adequate food. These are veritable milestones in the follow-up to Objective 7.4 of the World Food Summit Plan of Action.

However, Mr Chairperson, the work is not yet completed. The normative content of the right to adequate food and the nature of state obligations have been largely clarified. But the implementation at the national level is still inadequate. We recall that the Sub-Commission recommended in its resolution 1999/12 that the High Commissioner convene a further consultation on this issue. FAO supports this proposal. Indeed, the World Food Summit, as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stress the primary responsibility of states and governments. The implementation of the right to food is only completed when every woman, man and child has assured and sustainable access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. FAO statistics suggest that fewer people are undernourished today than a few years ago; however, progress is as yet slower than it should be to achieve the goals of the World Food Summit.

Efforts must be strengthened at all levels, but in particular by governments themselves. In that regard FAO would like to draw particular attention to the obligation of State Parties to the Covenant to take legal and administrative measures for the implementation of their obligations thereunder. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the special rapporteur and the Sub-Commission have recommended the adoption of framework legislation for the implementation of the right to adequate food. FAO very much supports that approach. Especially those states that have adopted a constitutional provision on the right to food and nutrition should give practical effect to it in national legislation. Countries wishing to do so could avail themselves of opportunities for assistance through the advisory services of the High Commissioner as well as the development law service of FAO. The donor community is encouraged to support such efforts. FAO would be very interested in participating in such exercises that could be undertaken on a pilot basis to start with. Finally, Mr Chairperson, allow me to draw the attention of this Commission to the next session of the FAO Committee on World Food Security in September this year. This session is dedicated to monitoring progress in the implementation of Commitments One, Two, Five and relevant parts of Commitment Seven of the World Food Summit Plan of Action. In that regard, . the High Commissioner for Human Rights will report to that Committee on the implementation of her mandate. States may wish to consider including, in their statements to the CFS, comments on actions they have taken with respect to implementation of the WFS undertakings relating to the right to food. The Commission may wish to request the High Commissioner to make recommendations in her report to the CFS, which suggest concrete steps that might be taken to strengthen the cooperation between the secretariats of the main bodies concerned with the right to food.

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Thank you Mr Chairperson.