The Right to Food around the Globe

  Saudi Arabia

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not explicitly guarantee the right to adequate food.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not yet a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

National status of international obligations

Article 81: “The implementation of this law shall not violate the treaties and agreements the Kingdom has signed with other countries or with international organizations and institutions.”

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

Article 10: “The state will aspire to strengthen family ties, maintain its Arab and Islamic values and care for all its members, and to provide the right conditions for the growth of their resources and capabilities.”

Article 26: “The state protects human rights in accordance with the Islamic Shari'ah.”

Article 27: “The state guarantees the rights of the citizen and his family in cases of emergency, illness and disability, and in old age; it supports the system of social security and encourages institutions and individuals to contribute in acts of charity.”

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

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

Status:

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

Status: Ratification (2000)

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

Status: Accession (1996)

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

Status: Accession (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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