The Right to Food around the Globe

  Honduras

The Constitution of the Republic of Honduras explicitly guarantees the right to adequate food.

The Republic of Honduras has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1981 by way of ratification. It has ratified the Optional Protocol (OP-ICESCR) in 2018.

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

Explicit protection of the right to adequate food

Article 123: “All children shall enjoy the benefits of social security and education. Every child shall have the right to grow and develop in good health, for whom special care shall be given during the prenatal period, as much for the child as for the mother, both being entitled to food, housing, education, recreation, exercise and adequate medical services.”

Directive principles of state policy

Article 347: "Agricultural production must be preferably aimed at satisfying the food requirements of the Honduran population, within the framework of a policy of adequate supply and fair prices for the producer and the consumer."

National status of international obligations

Article 16: "All international treaties must be approved by the National Congress before their ratification by the Executive Power. International treaties entered into by Honduras with other States form part of the domestic law as soon as they enter into force."

Article 17: "When an International Treaty affects a constitutional provision, it shall be approved through the procedure governing Constitutional amendments. At the same time, the respective constitutional provision shall be modified through the same procedure before the International Treaty is ratified by the Executive Power."

Article 18: “In case of conflict between the treaty or convention, and the law, the former shall prevail.”

 

 

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

Article 142: “Every person is entitled to the security of his economic means of support in the event of work disability or inability to obtain remunerated employment”

 

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

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

Status: Ratification (1981)

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

Status: Ratification (1983)

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

Status: Ratification (1990)

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

Status: Ratification (2008)

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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