The right to food in emergencies

World Food Programme⁴

A woman and her baby at an assistance centre for war-affected people in Angola
Conflict has overtaken natural disasters as the primary cause of acute hunger.

For millions of people, the ability to get the food they need has been suddenly and dramatically threatened by armed conflict and natural disasters. The misery of these people presses hard on the conscience of the international community, and their hunger is often a matter of life and death. The losses that accompany hunger are numerous - relatives lost to violence, homes and land abandoned, family assets such as the livestock and tools that are critical to food production and security gone, left behind or looted. Hard-won gains are destroyed for individuals, families, communities and society as a whole. Livelihoods are disrupted and development activities and goals are pushed aside, sometimes for years.

Both the dimensions and the nature of the emergencies confronting the international community have changed markedly in the past quarter of a century. Conflict has overtaken drought and other types of natural disaster as the primary cause of acute hunger. The international community has been increasingly called upon to respond to complex emergencies, defined as humanitarian crises, within a country or region where there is a total or considerable breakdown in authority resulting from external or internal conflict. Complex emergencies require a response that goes beyond the mandate or capacity of any single agency or ongoing United Nations country programme.

The growth in conflict-related emergencies, insecurity and lack of effective state authority, as well as the pervasive use of landmines, have complicated and, at times, hindered both relief and rehabilitation efforts. Humanitarian personnel and relief goods have become targets in a number of conflict situations. Forced displacement is often not merely a consequence of conflict but may be an objective or tactic of war, and civilians have increasingly been subjected to violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses. War-affected populations may be denied access to food aid and other types of emergency assistance for reasons of political or military expediency.

WFP OPERATIONAL EXPENDITURES FOR DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF, 1971-1997 ($'000)

	1976	1979	1982	1985	1988	1991	1994	1997
Development	251 724	418 585	422 440	582 000	704 000	534 900	324 500	332 691
Relief	33 877	88 209	189 759	159 500	174 000	228 400	845 700	703 366
Total	285 601	506 795	612 199	741 500	878 000	763 300	1 170 200	1 036 057

SHARE OF DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF IN WFP OPERATIONAL EXPENDITURES, 1971-1997 (percentage)

	1976	1979	1982	1985	1988	1991	1994	1997
Development	88	83	69	78	80	70	28	32
Relief	12	17	31	22	20	30	72	68
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Among the greatest challenges faced by the United Nations in recent years are those related to the forced displacement of populations. Globally, the number of internally displaced persons has continued to grow, and now surpasses the total number of refugees. It is estimated that between 20 and 25 million people are internally displaced in more than 40 countries,while the total number of refugees is estimated at 13 to 14 million.

As a result of these factors, the share of global food aid dedicated to saving lives in emergencies (both natural and human-incurred) rose from 10 percent during the late 1970s to roughly 42 percent in 1997. Twenty years ago, approximately 10 to 15 percent of the resources available to WFP were spent in responding to emergency operations, normally associated with drought or floods. In 1997, nearly 70 percent of WFP's global resources were devoted to supporting humanitarian activities.

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is important to reaffirm the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger and to take particular note of the needs of people affected by all types of disasters. Universal rights require universal actions, and nowhere is this more true than in considering the practical implementation of the right to food for people living in countries subject to recurring drought or other types of natural disasters and those facing civil strife. The obligations of states may be seen on several levels: respecting, promoting and fulfilling or assisting in the realization of this right. Where states have the resources at their disposal, they have an obligation to meet the humanitarian needs of populations under their jurisdiction. In emergency situations, the needs of those affected may exceed the capacity or, in some cases, the will of the state to respond. In these cases, there is an obligation to accept assistance from other sources in order to protect the lives and fundamental human rights of all affected people.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES ON INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT

When they cross a border, persons fleeing for safety have access to an established system of international protection and assistance for refugees. Those displaced within their own country, however, often suffer from the absence of a clearly defined legal or institutional basis for receiving protection from the international community.

Over recent years, the Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons has worked hard to develop an appropriate normative framework for the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons. In collaboration with a team of international legal experts, the Representative has developed a set of Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement which consolidate the principal relevant elements from a wide body of existing international humanitarian and human rights law.

In the section relating to protection during displacement, the Principles call attention to the obligation, "regardless of the circumstances and without discrimination", of the competent authorities to provide internally displaced persons with and ensure their access to essential food. The Principles also state that internally displaced persons shall be protected against the use of starvation as a method of combat. The Principles are expected to increase international awareness of the special problems of the internally displaced and provide a benchmark against which to monitor their treatment. As such, they represent a useful tool for the humanitarian and human rights communities as they, inter alia, underscore the importance of promotion and protection of the right to food.

Food relief for displaced persons
in Sri Lanka
The share of global food aid dedicated to saving
lives in emergencies has risen from
10 percent to more than 40 percent
since the late 1970s.

The need for partnerships among those with assistance and protection mandates has never been greater. In responding to the challenges of working in complex emergency environments, humanitarian and human rights organizations must speak with one voice in calling attention to the duty of states - regardless of their political, economic and social systems - to promote and protect human rights. This is particularly true in the case of internally displaced persons where the state may be responsible for the displacement of these populations and unwilling to acknowledge their presence or sufferings.

Access, or the lack of it, is a matter of concern to a wide variety of humanitarian and human rights organizations. Just as the distribution of food aid and other forms of emergency assistance to certain locations and populations may be blocked, the deployment of human rights monitors may be stalled. The term "access" therefore needs to be defined to include, not only access to assistance and protection, but also continuous and unrestricted access to all locations and populations for the assessment of needs and the follow-up monitoring of relief actions.

INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT IN MOZAMBIQUE

Mozambique's long war was concentrated in the countryside, making agricultural production almost impossible and forcing more than a quarter of its then population of 13 million people to leave their rural homes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many people became refugees in neighbouring countries but most were displaced within the country, seeking refuge in towns, cities and coastal areas. More than 3.5 million people were internally displaced by the war and the devastating drought of 1992 forced even more people off the land.

WFP delivered emergency food assistance to the hungry, destitute and displaced population in the face of the obstacles of barely passable roads laid with landmines and subject to armed attack, as well as areas of conflict that were off-limits to government programmes. As conditions improved and many displaced persons began to go home, WFP worked to make both food transport and resettlement possible through projects that cleared mines, built roads, repaired rail tracks, rebuilt wells, health posts and schools and cleaned irrigation canals. The complex difficulties facing the displaced population required innovative and flexible solutions, which WFP's food-for-work programmes and microprojects were often able to support.

In Mozambique, the lingering problems of landmine tragedies and disputed landholder rights for the displaced are reminders of the long-term destructive effects of armed confict. But the return of many of the displaced to their places of origin has led to a steady increase in the country`s agricultural production, and the government and WFP's attention can turn from responding to armed conflict to preventing and confronting natural disasters and increasing food security.

WFP food distribution in Mozambique
WFP's emergency food deliveries were made in
areas of barely passable roads laid with
landmines and subject to armed attack.

Today there is more dialogue than ever before between the humanitarian and human rights communities. Discussions between the two have been encouraged further by the United Nations Secretary-General in his programme for United Nations reform which challenges all organizations within the system to ensure that human rights are taken into account in all their ongoing activities. International humanitarian and human rights laws establish the framework within which both types of organization carry out their work. Their principal shared goals are preventing and alleviating human suffering wherever it may be found, achieving respect for the dignity and worth of each person and promoting respect for international standards relating to humanitarian assistance and human rights.

Emergencies present a great threat to efforts to reduce hunger and malnutrition among the world's poor, and addressing the right to adequate food in emergencies should not be seen solely in terms of the distribution of emergency food aid. In the case of drought and other types of recurring or sudden natural disasters, the international community should support states in strengthening their disaster preparedness, prevention and management capacities. With respect to complex emergencies, more attention should be focused on the strengthening of early warning and conflict prevention capacities. When crises do occur, effective coordination of international efforts to meet the assistance and protection needs of those affected is essential.

The fifty-fourth session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights reaffirmed that a peaceful, stable and enabling political, social and economic environment is essential if states are to give adequate priority to food security and poverty eradication. The international community must do all that is possible to facilitate efforts directed at resolving conflict and supporting recovery from crisis. In recent years, conflict-affected countries in Africa, Asia and Central America have begun to enjoy the benefits of peace as land has been put back into production, markets have been reactivated and food security has been enhanced. The effective reintegration of refugees and internally displaced persons is a major element in successful peace consolidation efforts and in realizing the right to food in the form of longer-term food security.

⁴The World Food Programme (WFP) is the frontline United Nations organization fighting to eradicate world hunger. By meeting the needs of refugees, the internally displaced and other civilian victims of famine, natural disaster and conflict, WFP protects and promotes the right of individuals to adequate food. In 1997, WFP targeted food aid assistance to meet the needs of approximately 15 million internally displaced persons, 4 million refugees and returnees, and 10 million persons affected by drought and human-incurred or natural disasters.