Celebrating 20 years of the Right to Food Guidelines: Achievements, challenges, and the path ahead

Marking 20 years of the Right to Food Guidelines, the global community gathered on Human Rights Day to celebrate progress, address challenges, and plan for the future.
On December 10, 2024, the global right to food community came together to commemorate Human Rights Day and mark the 20th anniversary of the Right to Food Guidelines. The virtual event, "Realizing the right to food in a changing world – The Right to Food Guidelines: 20 years on and beyond," featured live connections from Geneva, Madrid, New York, and Rome. This milestone offered an opportunity to celebrate achievements, reflect on challenges, and chart a path forward for the right to adequate food.
Organized by FAO’s Right to Food Team, the event included the launch of a comprehensive report assessing two decades of implementing the guidelines. The report, which tracks progress since the guidelines' adoption by the FAO Council in November 2004, explores their evolution in addressing global challenges, strengthening human rights frameworks, and overcoming barriers to food security and nutrition. The event also saw the unveiling of a refreshed version of the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security, featuring updated design elements and a foreword from FAO’s Director-General Qu Dongyu. While preserving the guidelines’ powerful and evergreen content, this revitalized look reflects FAO’s renewed commitment to advancing the right to food.
Speakers highlighted the importance of a human rights-based approach to achieving the right to adequate food for all and underscored the need for collaboration across UN entities, governments, and civil society to fully realize this fundamental right.
Addressing systemic challenges
FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero opened the discussion with a video message emphasizing the guidelines’ role in tackling systemic challenges like poverty, inequality, and inequities within agrifood systems.
Ambassador Yusnier Romero Puentes, Deputy Permanent Representative of Cuba to the UN, announced the forthcoming presentation of the latest Right to Food Resolution at the UN General Assembly.
National progress and global commitments
Lara Lobo Monteiro, Alternate Permanent Representative of Brazil to FAO, WFP, and IFAD, shared Brazil’s experience integrating the right to food into national policies.
Spain’s commitment to the right to food was highlighted by Miriam Ciscar Blat, Deputy Director of the Sectorial Branch of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation. She called on governments to increase resources and efforts to keep the right to food at the forefront of global agendas.
Key insights from the report
Juan Echanove, lead of the FAO Right to Food Team, presented the report’s findings. He noted that the guidelines have influenced legal and policy frameworks. However, structural inequalities, conflict, and climate change remain significant challenges. The report provides 10 key recommendations, including:
- Aligning national policies with right-to-food principles and embedding them in legal systems.
- Ensuring accountability through independent monitoring.
- Emphasizing equity and Indigenous Peoples' rights.
- Engaging stakeholders to address issues like climate change and corporate concentration.
Renewing the commitment to human rights
Todd Howland, Director of the Development and Economic and Social Branch at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), called the event an opportunity to “recommit to the Right to Food Guidelines and the principles they uphold.”
Sofia Monsalve, General Secretary of FIAN International, stressed the need for civil society participation in realizing the right to food.
In closing, ESP Director Benjamin Davis highlighted the need to prevent starvation from being used as a weapon of war and called for ongoing dedication to this essential human right.
The event was a powerful reminder that realizing the right to food is a collective responsibility – and with concerted action, a hunger-free world is within reach.
Watch the recording of the event here:
Check the report here:
Realizing the right to food in a changing world