Consultation on the Right to Development

6 April 2000

Mr/Ms Chairperson,

Distinguished participants.

On behalf of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, I am pleased to address this consultation on the right to development, with particular reference to the right to food. The right to development encompasses the whole spectrum of human rights, civil, cultural, economic, political and social process, for the improvement of peoples' well being and realization of their full potential. FAO through its activities to promote sustainable agriculture and to eradicate poverty and improve food security contributes to the improvement of standard of living and overall economic, social and cultural development.

In most developing countries agriculture, as a source of livelihood of the majority of the populations, remains the foundation for the realization of the right to development in terms of food availability and improving food security and nutrition, availability of commodities for export and foreign exchange earnings, availability of raw materials for domestic industries, and in generating employment and income opportunities to urban and rural populations.

The focus on poverty eradication, through measures to improve access to productive resources such as land, water, inputs, improved seeds, appropriate technologies and credit, allows the poor to be active participants in the process of economic, social and political transformation and to share the benefits of development. The ongoing effort of FAO together with other UN agencies to develop Food Insecurity and vulnerability and Mapping System (FIVIMS) to identify, within a gender relevant framework, insecure people, their location and causes of food insecurity, is expected to enhance the poverty alleviation focus of development efforts through increased targeted interventions to improve productivity and to create employment and income opportunities for the poor. The focus on poverty not only is important in ensuring humanity's freedom from hunger but also in addressing the issues of equity in development process.

The focus on poverty eradication is consistent with the Plan of Action of the World Food Summit, which reaffirmed the "right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger".

In the Plan of Action of the World Food Summit, Objective 7.4 addresses specifically the rights related to food. A special mandate was given to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to "better define the rights related to food in Article 11 of the Covenant and to propose ways to implement and realize these rights as a means of achieving the commitments and objectives of the World Food Summit, taking into account the possibility of formulating voluntary guidelines for food security for all."

Objective 7.4 foresees a role for several actors apart from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, namely the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, other treaty bodies, and specialized agencies – including FAO - as well as governments and civil society. Allow me to recall briefly the many important developments since the World Food Summit.

The HCHR has to date held two Expert Consultations on the right to adequate food as a human right, and reported to the Commission on Human Rights thereon. In April last year the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination/Sub-Committee on Nutrition (ACC/SCN) organised a symposium on "The substance and politics of a human rights approach to food and nutrition policies and programmes", which was hosted by the HCHR. In May the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted a General Comment on the Right to Adequate Food. Mr Asbjorn Eide, Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission produced an updated study on the right to food in July. Also worth mentioning is the draft code of conduct on the right to adequate food, an important NGO initiative, that has already been referred to as a great working tool by the High Commissioner.

FAO has played an active supporting role in the work of the UN human rights bodies, as well as working on its own on the right to adequate food. The Director-General of FAO signed a memorandum of understanding with the High Commissioner for Human Rights in May 1997 regarding follow-up to the World Food Summit. FAO drew the attention of the Commission on Human Rights and the CESCR to the Plan of Action, participated actively in the two Expert Consultations of the High Commissioner on the right to adequate food – and co-hosted the second one of these in November 1998. FAO also provided extensive comments and participated in the deliberations of the CESCR in the process of its adoption of the General Comment on the right to adequate food.

On the occasion of the 50^th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), FAO published a book entitled "The Right to Food in Theory and Practice" and a leaflet entitled "What is the Right to Food?" as well as a trilingual legislative study containing extracts of relevant international and regional instruments and some authoritative texts with direct reference to the right to food. All these publications as well as FAO and UN material on the subject of the right to food are available on the FAO website at the Legal Office homepage, which launched a new webpage dedicated to the subject on the occasion of the 50^th Anniversary.

FAO’s governing bodies have been kept informed of developments, through its Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and its biannual Conference. In June 1999 a representative of the CESCR addressed the CFS to inform it about the adoption of the General Comment. The CFS reacted favourably and welcomed the proposal that cooperation with CESCR be strengthened on a continuing basis. The next session of the CFS, in September this year, will review the implementation of the World Food Summit Plan of Action, including regarding the right to food, and the High Commissioner will submit a full report on her efforts to that body.

The result of all this work is that clarification of the normative content and of state obligations relating to the right to adequate food has largely been achieved. However, work has only just begun on the practical implementation at all levels, local, national, regional and international.

FAO intends to continue strengthening the cooperation with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In this connection FAO is planning to hold a working meeting with one or two members of the CESCR as well as with the Secretariat and the Office of the High Commissioner, with a view to establishing a concrete methodology for information sharing and other forms of cooperation. FAO is also looking forward to participating in a wider consultation between the treaty bodies and relevant agencies, including the financial and trade organizations, which the Sub-Commission has recommended. FAO is also in the process of exploring interlinkages with various areas of its work, including the Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information Mapping System, policy analysis, emergency assistance and legislative assistance at the national level.

Thank you Mr/Ms Chairperson.