The Right to Food around the Globe

  Togo

The Constitution of the Togolese Republic implicitly guarantees the right to adequate food through broader human rights.

The Togolese Republic has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1984 by way of accession. It has signed the Optional Protocol (OP-ICESCR) in 2009, but has not ratified it yet.

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

Implicit protection of the right to adequate food

Article 17: The State recognizes everyone’s right to the protection of health. (Annex)

National status of international obligations

Article 92: Treaties and agreements that have been duly ratified or approved shall, upon their publication, have authority superior to that of laws, even those enacted subsequently, subject, for each treaty or agreement, to its application by the other party. The reciprocity requirement does not apply to international treaties for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Ordinary courts have jurisdiction to ensure the effective primacy of treaties and international agreements when, in the course of ongoing proceedings, it is argued that the applicable legislative or regulatory provisions are contrary to the provisions of a treaty or international agreement.

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

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

Status: Accession (1984)

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

Status: Accession (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 (2011)

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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