The Right to Food around the Globe

  Albania

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

The Republic of Albania has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1991 by way of accession. It has acceded to the Optional Protocol (OP-ICESCR) in 2025.

 

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

National status of international obligations

Article 5: “The Republic of Albania applies international law that is binding upon it.” 

Article 116.1: “Normative acts that are effective in the entire territory of the Republic of Albania are:
b) ratified international agreements.”

Article 122.1: “Any international agreement that has been ratified constitutes part of the internal juridical system after it is published in the Official Journal of the Republic of Albania. It is implemented directly, except for cases when it is not self-executing and its implementation requires issuance of a law.”

Article 122.2: “An international agreement that has been ratified by law has superiority over laws of the country that are not compatible with it.”

Article 122.3: “The norms issued by an international organization have superiority, in case of conflict, over the laws of the country if the agreement ratified by the Republic of Albania for its participation in the organization expressly contemplates their direct applicability.”

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

Article 15.2: “The organs of public power, in fulfillment of their duties, shall respect the fundamental rights and freedoms, as well as contribute to their realization.”

Article 59.1: “The state, within its constitutional powers and the means at its disposal, aims to supplement private initiative and responsibility with:
c) the highest possible standard of health, physical and mental;
g) care and help for the aged, orphans and persons with disabilities.”

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

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

Status: Accession (1991)

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

Status: Accession (1994)

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

Status: Ratification (1992)

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

Status: Ratification (2013)

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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