FAO participates in the 46th Session of the Human Rights Council session in Geneva
The 46th session of the Human Rights Council commenced on the 22 February in Geneva, the agenda of the session has several topics that are closely related to FAO’s mandate and work, including on the right to food, right of children, environment and poverty alleviation.
FAO is actively engaged on the four weeks of deliberations. During the session which focused on the Report “Impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the enjoyment of human rights around the world, including good practices and areas of concern”, issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Celso de Carvalho, Policy Officer at the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva thanked the High Commissioner for the Report and specifically referred to the impacts of COVID-19, a global crisis, which affects the food and agriculture sector.
Mr. Carvalho emphasised that in order to mitigate the impacts on food systems, FAO urges countries to concentrate on food needs of their vulnerable populations, social protection programmes, keep global food trade going, maintain the domestic supply chain, and support smallholder farmers”, he underscored.
FAO developed the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme and warmly welcomes partners to leverage the Organization’s ability to directly support where and when it is needed most, he underscored in his video message to the session.
The COVID-19 Response and Recovery FAO programme spans across seven priority areas through which FAO provides partners with unique opportunities to demonstrate their values, increase their impact, and achieve development and humanitarian goals.
“FAO helps understand and mitigate the pandemic's impact on food and agriculture; safeguard the food security and livelihoods; and ensure a unified, One Health approach”, he concluded.
The 46th Session of the Human Rights Council is taking place in an unprecedented format due to the precautionary measures necessary to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. At the opening of the session, H.E. Ambassador Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of the Human Rights Council, highlighted that this was the first almost entirely online session of the Council.
More details on FAO work in this field:
FAO COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme
FAO work on Protecting the right to a childhood. Ending child labour across the globe