The Right to Food around the Globe

  Togo

The Constitution of the Togolese Republic implicitly guarantees the right to adequate food through broader human rights.

The Togolese Republic has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1984 by way of accession. It has signed the Optional Protocol (OP-ICESCR) in 2009, but has not ratified it yet.

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

Implicit protection of the right to adequate food

Article 12: "Every human being has the right to development, to the physical, intellectual, moral and cultural fulfillment of their person."

National status of international obligations

Article 50: "The rights and duties, stated in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man and in the international instruments relative to the Rights of Man, ratified by Togo, are an integral part of this Constitution." 

Article 140: "The treaties or agreements regularly ratified or approved have, on their publication, an authority superior to the laws, under reserve, for each agreement or treaty, of its application by the other party."

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

Article 10: "Every human being carries within them inalienable and imprescriptible rights. The safeguarding of these rights is the objective of any human community. The State has the obligation to respect them, to guarantee them and to protect them."

Article 34: “The State recognizes to the citizens the right to health. It works to promote it."

Article 38: “The right to an equitable redistribution of the national wealth by the State is recognized to the citizens and to the territorial collectivities."

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

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

Status: Accession (1984)

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

Status: Accession (1983)

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

Status: Ratification (1990)

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

Status: Ratification (2011)

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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