The Right to Food around the Globe

  Bangladesh

The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh has directive principles that contribute to the realization of the right to adequate food. 

The People's Republic of Bangladesh has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1998 by way of accession. 

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

Directive principles of state policy

Article 15: “It shall be a fundamental responsibility of the State to attain, through planned economic growth, a constant increase of productive forces and a steady improvement in the material and cultural standard of living of the people, with a view to securing to its citizens-

(a) the provision of the basic necessities of life, including food, clothing, shelter, education and medical care; [...]

Article 18(1): “The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the improvement of public health as moving its primary duties and in particular shall adopt effective measures to prevent the consumption, except for medical purposes or for such other purposes as may be prescribed by law, of alcoholic and other intoxicating drinks and drugs which are injurious to health [...].”

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

Article 11: “The Republic shall be a democracy in which fundamental human rights and freedoms and respect for the dignity and worth of the human person shall be guaranteed, and in which effective participation by the people through their elected representatives in administration at all levels shall be ensured.”

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

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

Status: Accession (1998)

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

Status: Accession (1984)

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

Status: Ratification (1990)

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

Status: Ratification (2007)

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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