The Right to Food around the Globe

  Seychelles

The Constitution of the Republic of Seychelles does not explicitly guarantee the right to adequate food.

The Republic of Seychelles has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1992 by way of accession.

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

National status of international obligations

Article 48: “This Chapter shall be interpreted in such a way so as not to be inconsistent with any international obligations of Seychelles relating to human rights and freedoms and a court shall, when interpreting the provision of this Chapter, take judicial notice of−
(a) the international instruments containing these obligations; (b) the reports and expression of views of bodies administering or enforcing these instruments; (c) the reports, decisions or opinions of international and regional institutions administering or enforcing Conventions on human rights and freedoms; (d) the Constitutions of other democratic States or nations and decisions of the courts of the States or nations in respect of their Constitutions."

Other pertinent provisions for the realization of the right to adequate food

Preamble. Paragraph 4: "Develop a democratic system which will ensure the creation of an adequate and progressive social order guaranteeing food, clothing, shelter, education, health and a steadily rising standard of living for all Seychellois."

Article 29(1): “The State recognises the right of every citizen to protection of health and to the enjoyment of attainable standard of physical and mental health [...]”

Article 35: “The State recognises the right of every citizen to work and to just and favourable conditions of work and with a view to ensuring the effective exercise of these rights the State undertakes−
(d) to make and enforce statutory provisions for safe, healthy and fair conditions of work, including reasonable rest, leisure, paid holidays, remuneration which guarantees, as a minimum, dignified and decent living conditions for the workers and their families, fair and equal wages for work of equal value without distinction and stability of employment.”

Article 37: “The State recognises the right of every citizen to a decent and dignified existence and with a view to ensuring that its citizens are not left unprovided for by reason of incapacity to work or involuntary unemployment undertakes to maintain a system of social security.”

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) – 1966

Status: Accession (1992)

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – 1979

Status: Accession (1992)

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – 1989

Status: Accession (1990)

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – 2006

Status: Ratification (2009)

Legislation and policies recognizing the right to adequate food

Guidance on how to progressively realise the human right to adequate food in contexts of national food security has been provided by the Right to Food Guidelines, adopted by the FAO Council and endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security.

Considering that the human right to adequate food can be implemented through a variety of legal and policy actions, we invite you to visit the FAOLEX Country Profile database for a wide-ranging collection of measures that have been taken at national level. Some of the documents you may find are legislation and policies that touch on a number of relevant Guidelines, such as those on Access to resources and assets (Guideline 8), Food safety and consumer protection (Guideline 9), Support for vulnerable groups (Guideline 13) and Natural and human-made disasters (Guideline 16).

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