from Right to Food, 29-05-2008

  Mission to India, 3 - 9 May 2008

Within the framework of its work on a Guide on Legislating for the Right to Food, two members of the FAO Right to Food Unit travelled to India to hold a series of bilateral meetings with Indian experts in the field, and obtain feedback on the draft Guide. The National Human Rights Commission of India organized a meeting of its core group on the right to food to discuss with the mission.

All stakeholders met showed a strong interest in the right to food and the draft Guide on legislating for the Right to Food. The Mission received many useful suggestions for improvement of the current text of the Guide in particular, with regard to mechanisms for civil society participation, on coordination and monitoring mechanisms as well as on appeals and review procedures in case of a violation of the right to food.

The importance of specifying food and nutrition rights for children under six was also stressed, along with measures in other fields to enable mothers to adequately care for their infants. Several experts underlined the need to better regulate private sector activities. It was also felt that support for domestic production and stronger investments in agriculture in view to ensure food availablility and stability of supply in a country should be more prominently addressed in the Guide.

Both governmental and non-governmental representatives expressed their interest in receiving the Guide once it is published, for its dissemination and use in India. This mission complements two regional expert workshops organised by the Unit to validate a draft Guide; the first workshop took place in Uganda in November 2007 and the second one in Nicaragua, in January 2008. The Guide will be published later in 2008.