HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HOLDS PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE REALIZATION OF THE RIGHT TO FOOD

The Human Rights Council this morning held a panel discussion on the realization of the right to food. At the beginning of the meeting, Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, delivered a statement on the occasion of International Women's Day.

In her statement on international Women's Day, which is commemorated on 8 March, Ms. Pillay said women continued to be the majority of the poor and disenfranchised. They faced deprivation of economic and social rights, as well as civil and political rights. Women still did not get equal pay for equal work, and did not enjoy the legal protections afforded to men in the workplace. In many countries, laws restricted women's access to financial independence. Violence against women compounded their vulnerability - the United Nations regarded it as a pandemic. Empowerment was predicated on the removal of discriminatory laws and harmful practices that held women back, frustrated their resourcefulness, and curtailed their access to a fair share of the common wealth.

Opening the panel discussion on the realisation of the right to food, Ms. Pillay said last year, the global food crisis attracted widespread attention around the world. Efforts to tackle the global food crisis would only bear fruit if they were grounded in the very basic human right to adequate food. On this premise, the Council's efforts should be directed particularly to protect the most marginalized segments of society. Efforts to mitigate hunger and promote and protect the right to food had not been translated into concrete action to empower those most affected by the crisis, nor had they uniformly benefited those who already suffered from hunger prior to the crisis. Stronger institutions with better accountability, sustainable investments in agricultural production and research, targeted support to and empowerment of smallholders and the poor were all building blocks of a successful strategy to defeat hunger.

Paul Nicholson, of La Via Campesina, one of the panellists, presenting the peasants' perspective of the right to food in the context of the food crisis, said the causes of the crisis showed that 70 per cent of hunger was rural, and was primarily due to the export and industrial modes of production, and the privatization of market control, which were instruments that multinational corporations controlled leaving prices in speculative hands, and resulting in a high price for the consumer. This crisis was now entering a new phase which impacted social and environmental realities. After all the summits and conferences on the right to food and the elimination of hunger, what was really needed was a change in policy on the right of peasants and consumers.

Andrea Carmen, of International Indian Treaty Council, a panellist, speaking on the indigenous peoples' perspective of the right to food in the context of the food crisis, said the right to food was a collective right for indigenous peoples, closely tied to their right to land, resources, and territories, inextricably linked to culture, languages, and relationship with Mother Earth. Food sovereignty was a precondition for food security for indigenous peoples, closely tied to their ability to design strategies to consume their food and manage natural resources. It was important to recognise that hunger was disproportionately high for indigenous peoples, and to recognise that even though indigenous peoples could fall towards the bottom economically, indigenous peoples that had access to their traditional land, practices and traditions maintained their health in a very positive way.

David Nabarro, Coordinator of the Secretary-General's High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Crisis, a panellist, said the High Level Task Force's starting point was vulnerable people and marginal people with a particular focus on women. Firstly, food, agriculture, markets, trade and social protection had to be addressed together and not by separate task forces within several organizations. More attention had to be given to rural space and an appropriate infrastructure was a prerequisite. Financial, water, climate and other changes had to be taken into account for any efforts that would be undertaken. Mr. Navarro emphasized the need for the mobilization of increased resources, the financing needed to be immediate but long-term at the same time. Finally, greater accountability in production and marketing was needed for all producers of food.

Jean Ziegler, Member of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, a panellist, speaking in his individual capacity, said millions of people were faced by a severe world crisis, with over 100,000 people suffering from hunger, and 963 million people in the world now were severely undernourished. The causes of the food crisis were contributed to by the debt of all the countries in the south, the fact that the poorest agricultural countries could not make investments into their respective agricultural sectors, and the fact that they could neither invest in fertilizer or ploughing by animals. Agro-fuel speculation along with food commodities was also a contributor to the crisis. Since the financial food crisis which began in 2007, the major speculators through future contracts and stock market speculations had pushed the prices up.

Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on the right to food, said hunger did not primarily result from a lack of food - it stemmed from a lack of purchasing power for the marginalised and poor. Protecting human rights was thus a vital part of the international community's response to the crisis. The right to food improved sustainability, and by adopting national strategies and framework laws, Governments would be under pressure to remain on track in this regard. The right to food increased solidarity - it had an international extraterritorial dimension, requiring that the international environment be shaped towards its realisation. The right to land also meant the right to access to land, and to productive resources as a part of the right to food - agrarian reform was part of the solutions to eliminating hunger and poverty throughout the world.

In the context of the interactive dialogue, delegations said, among other things, that the global food crisis posed a serious challenge to the fight against poverty and hunger, as well as to the efforts by developing countries to attain food security and achieve the objective to halve the number of undernourished people by 2015 and other development goals. Building the resilience of countries against external shocks and ensuring that the households that were the most vulnerable to food security were shielded from the impact of increases in prices should form the basis of any future global food security strategy. Achieving food security would require strengthening and revitalizing the agriculture sector in developing countries, including through international cooperation, the empowerment of small and medium scale farmers, technical assistance, access to and transfer of technology and exchange of knowledge and experience. The Human Rights Council as well as States, individually and through international cooperation and assistance, should take all necessary measures to ensure the realization of the right to food as an essential human rights objective, and review any policies or measures which had a negative impact on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to food.

Speaking this morning were the representatives of Cuba for the Non-Aligned Movement, Czech Republic for the European Union, Pakistan for the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Ethiopia, Iran, Senegal, China, Chile on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries, Luxembourg, the World Trade Organisation, Nepal, Bangladesh, Brazil, the Philippines, South Africa, Norway, Switzerland, Indonesia, Algeria, Yemen for the Arab Group, and Yemen in its national capacity.

Also speaking were the representatives of Amnesty International, and Europe-Third World Centre, in a joint statement with several NGOs.

The Council will resume this afternoon at 3 p.m., when it will conclude the panel discussion, after which it will take up the consideration of reports by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, the Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and finally the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context.

Statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights on Occasion of International Women's Day

NAVI PILLAY, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaking on the occasion of International Women's Day (8 March), said she had much to celebrate on this day - in her lifetime, she had seen unimaginable change in her own country and around the world. She had seen the power of ordinary people and the determination of women who stood up against injustice, violence, marginalisation and tyranny. Today, she was celebrating the power of women, the power to overcome the particular vulnerabilities resulting from multiple forms of discrimination. She was celebrating the power of women whose spirit could not be broken, who survived and even thrived. She was celebrating the vision of equality between women and men that was enshrined in the framework of international human rights law, and the collective efforts to move towards that vision and make it a reality for all women and men around the world.

And yet, many challenges lay ahead, Ms. Pillay said. Women continued to be the majority of the poor and disenfranchised. They faced deprivation of economic and social rights, as well as civil and political rights. Women still did not get equal pay for equal work, and did not enjoy the legal protections afforded to men in the workplace. In many countries, laws restricted women's access to financial independence, discriminating against them in matters of employment, property and inheritance. Violence against women compounded their vulnerability - the United Nations regarded it as a pandemic. Just as violence against women was a weapon of domination in the home, violence against women was a weapon of war in armed conflict.

Ms. Pillay said protecting women's rights was particularly crucial when the economic going got rough - times of hardship exposed women and girls to greater risks, since the venting of frustration and despair increased the likelihood of violence against them. Economic downturns jeopardised the full spectrum of women's economic and social rights. Preventive initiatives, safeguards, as well as economic recovery and growth measures, must be designed to be gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory. There could be no doubt that the human rights, as well as the development and security of all communities depended on the full participation of women. Violence and discrimination against women were externalities that the world could ill afford. What was needed was a paradigm shift whereby women and their knowledge were seen as growth agents.

There were, of course, highly visible benchmarks of progress - women as heads of Government, or in Parliament, women leading the highest courts, and at the helm of businesses, Ms. Pillay said. Perhaps as a result, girls around the world were growing up with a different sense of themselves - they were powerful, saying no to early marriage, female genital mutilation and sexual violence, wanting to go to school and get an education. Governments and international organizations must meet their expectations and help them fulfil their goals - empowering women and girls and creating an environment that was conducive to the realisation of their full potential was a responsibility and a priority of the tallest order. Empowerment was predicated on the removal of discriminatory laws and harmful practices that held women back, frustrated their resourcefulness, and curtailed their access to a fair share of the common wealth. It required active participation in public life, freedom of expression, association, and movement, as well as the enjoyment of their rights to education, adequate food and housing, and the highest attainable standard of health, including reproductive health. Empowerment must be ultimately locked into national policies fostering self-help and solidarity.

Historically, Ms. Pillay said the United Nations had created a welcoming space for women to grow and compare notes; to build a grid of solidarity and foster change. Human rights mechanisms had often set the pace in spurring dormant national action, and the Human Rights Council could also play a role in fostering women's human rights. The Universal Periodic Review offered a new important space to civil society's contributions, including women's knowledge and products, and all women should take full advantage of this to convey their priorities, agendas and foremost concerns. The Council should also expedite the creation of a mechanism to strengthen gender equality in national laws, which was less than fully established in too many countries in the world.

Ms. Pillay said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights strove to translate laws on equal rights into a daily reality in the lives of all women. It focused on the promotion of all women's human rights, including their economic, social and political rights, which were also a means of securing women's participation in all aspects of governance. It worked to combat sexual violence and bring perpetrators to account. Discrimination and other barriers to women's empowerment, such as the persistence of stereotypical attitudes to the roles of men and women, could be overcome with creativity and determination, even in the face of limited resources. There was no better way to celebrate International Women's Day than by making this success a reality for the countless women whose enjoyment of human rights was compromised, and who were thus prevented from gaining their rightful place, as well as their fair due.


Statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights to Panel Discussion on Realization of the Right to Food

NAVI PILLAY, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, welcomed this morning's discussion on the realization of the right to food. This was a timely opportunity to keep alive the momentum on the protection and promotion of the right to adequate food in response to the global food crisis. Last year, the global food crisis attracted widespread attention around the world. Due to sharp increases in prices of basic staple food, the number of people suffering from hunger spiked from 854 million to 967 million worldwide. While food prices in the international market had since decreased, they remained higher than those recorded in 2002 and were unaffordable by the poor. Perversely, falling food prices were currently discouraging investment in agriculture. This in turn hampered much needed efforts to increase food production, particularly the capacity of small-hold farmers to sustain their livelihoods. Clearly the crisis was not over yet. Efforts to tackle the global food crisis would only bear fruit if they were grounded in the very basic human right to adequate food. On this premise, the Council's efforts should be directed particularly to protect the most marginalized segments of society.

The importance of incorporating a human rights perspective had slowly but gradually gained recognition in the responses to the crisis at national and international levels. The Comprehensive Framework for Action developed by the Secretary-General's High Level Task Force on the Global Food Crisis Security Crisis as a common framework for the United Nations and Bretton Woods institutions recognized aspects of the human rights dimension of the food crisis. Most recently, the participants of the High Level Meeting in Food Security for All, held in Madrid last month, reaffirmed the primary responsibility of States to respect, protect and fulfill the right to food.

Efforts to mitigate hunger and promote and protect the right to food had not been translated into concrete action to empower those most affected by the crisis, nor had they uniformly benefited those who already suffered from hunger prior to the crisis, Ms. Pillay said. Of particular concern was the situation of the rural and urban poor, landless or small-scale farmers and household headed by women. The High Commissioner said that she could not overemphasize the need for anchoring strategies and initiatives on human rights in order to make responses more sustainable and equitable with a strong focus on those men, women and children who disproportionately bore the brunt of this crisis because of discrimination and marginalization.

Ms. Pillay said stronger institutions with better accountability, sustainable investments in agricultural production and research, targeted support to and empowerment of smallholders and the poor were all building blocks of a successful strategy to defeat hunger. Food was not a simple commodity and agriculture was not only a business. Both represented the means of the world's survival and those of future generations. Putting people first would ensure that the international community supported them both in the realization of their rights and in tackling the root causes of the crisis.

Presentations by Panellists in Discussion on Realization of the Right to Food

PAUL NICHOLSON, of La Via Campesina, said this was an important opportunity to place the realization of the right to food, to be a fisher, a farmer and a herder, in the context of human rights, and not just in the context of the global economic chain. The causes of the crisis showed that 70 per cent of hunger was rural, and was primarily due to the export and industrial modes of production, and the privatization of market control, which were instruments that multinational corporations controlled leaving prices in speculative hands, and resulting in a high price for the consumer. Ongoing destruction of local food production was a consequence of neo-liberal policies forced upon countries through the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, in particular, policies that promoted the import of cheap food and the privatization of natural resources. Those policies were driven at the global level which had direct consequences at the local level. Transnational corporations took over the land and imposed industrial food and agro-fuel production, expelling peasants from their land, turning them into slum dwellers and exploiting workers on transnational plantations.

This crisis was now entering a new phase which impacted social and environmental realities. After all the summits and conferences on the right to food and the elimination of hunger, what was really needed was a change in policy on the right of peasants and consumers, stressed Mr. Nicholson. Water was a public good and seeds should be in the hands of farmers. Policies needed to be based on food sovereignty, which meant a genuine agrarian reform through a re-distribution of land towards landless peasants as well as access to other productive resources, among other things. There should be a strengthening of public policies, and Governments should avoid all speculative activities and negative effects of transational corporations on peasant based sustainable agriculture. Peasants should also be protected against the aggressive corporate model of production. The recognition of peasant rights was a fundamental starting point to resolve the struggle against poverty and hunger. Without an international convention on the rights of peasants the realization of the right to food could not be fully realized.

Andrea Carmen, of the International Indian Treaty Council, speaking on the indigenous peoples' perspective of the right to food in the context of the food crisis, said the right to food was an established human right, and there could be no doubt that it needed to be the starting place of the discussion. It had been affirmed for over 60 years in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In no case could a people be deprived of their own means of subsistence, said the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Indigenous people used this to continue their traditional methods of subsistence. It was a collective right for indigenous peoples, closely tied to their right to land, resources, and territories, inextricably linked to culture, languages, and relationship with Mother Earth. Food sovereignty was a precondition for food security for indigenous peoples, closely tied to their ability to design strategies to consume their food and manage natural resources.

The adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007 was a landmark moment for indigenous peoples of the world. The Declaration in many articles affirmed fundamental human rights necessary for the realisation for the right to food for indigenous peoples, including the right to maintain their environment, and free and informed consent. The right to subsistence and development was also contained in the text. It was important to recognise that hunger was disproportionately high for indigenous peoples, and to recognise that even though indigenous peoples could fall towards the bottom economically, indigenous peoples that had access to their traditional land, practices and traditions maintained their health in a very positive way. There were particular obstacles for indigenous peoples in the exercise of the right to food, including the lack of access to land and resources, including imposed development, which impacted on traditional methods of subsistence.

Environmental contamination was another issue - the Special Rapporteur Jean Ziegler had recognised that this was a violation of human rights, and had reported as such to the former Commission on Human Rights. Indigenous peoples had had their food, water and land threatened, with serious impact on their right to food security, in many areas around the world. Bio-fuels had raised food prices around the world, and impacted indigenous peoples and threatened their food security. The United Nations had called for an integration of human rights in all aspects of the United Nations, in particular development, environment and security, and this was what today's discussion did.

DAVID NABARRO, Coordinator of the Secretary-General's High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis, said that in May 2008 the Secretary-General had set up a unique mechanism, the High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis, which included various instruments such as the World Trade Organization and OECD in order to join efforts in the development of measures concerning the food crisis. The High Level Task Force's starting point was vulnerable people and marginal people with a particular focus on women. Mr. Navarro presented some of the concrete activities of the High Level Task Force. Firstly, food, agriculture, markets, trade and social protection had to be addressed together and not by separate task forces within several organizations. More attention had to be given to rural space and an appropriate infrastructure was a prerequisite. Financial, water, climate and other changes had to be taken into account for any efforts that would be undertaken. Mr. Navarro underlined that concerted action was encouraged by the Comprehensive Framework of Action which had been presented last year by the Secretary-General.

Further, Mr. Nabarro emphasized the need for the mobilization of increased resources, the financing needed to be immediate but long-term at the same time. Also, the civil society, farmer groups and all stake-holders with an interest in food had to be integrated in the consultative process in order to make it fully inclusive. Finally, greater accountability in production and marketing was needed for all producers of food. It was of utmost importance for the High Level Task Force that its action was meaningful and effective which had to be demonstrated by its results.

JEAN ZIEGLER, Member of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, thanked the Council for the invitation to speak today, in his individual capacity. In the context of the interesting presentations heard thus far, he said that every five seconds a child died. Millions of people were faced by a severe world crisis, with over 100,000 people suffering from hunger, and 963 million people in the world now were severely under nourished. The World Bank said that it was unacceptable that more and more people were thrown into the affects of the food crisis. The causes of the food crisis were contributed to by the debt of all the countries in the south, the fact that the poorest agricultural countries could not make investments into their respective agricultural sectors, and the fact that they could neither invest in fertilizer or ploughing by animals. Further, if all indebted States had to hand over their money to the International Monetary Fund, there were no funds left to invest in local agriculture. Subsidies – another major cause - totalled $ 349 billion for production for exports from developing countries. As a result, agricultural dumping destroyed African agriculture. Agro-fuel speculation along with food commodities was also a contributor to the crisis. Since the financial food crisis which began in 2007, the major speculators through future contracts and stock market speculations pushed the prices up.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was an excellent organization, and the Chief of the organization just last July published a report which showed that 37 per cent of the rise of the price of the three basic food products was purely speculatory. There were many States that were leading an intelligent battle in this context. Agricultural dumping and subsidies on the one hand were major causes, however, the problem of inconsistency on the behalf of States was another. States on one hand fought for the right to food here in the Council but on the other hand in other fora – the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund – fought a different fight. Mr. Ziegler stressed that Member States who were party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had extraterritorial obligations. He hoped that in the context of the intergovernmental system that the legitimacy of the Human Rights Council would be upheld.

Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on the right to food, said since the global food crisis erupted in early 2008, and he had taken up the post in May 2008, he had relentlessly tried to emphasise to a variety of actors the need to integrate the right to food in their response to the crisis. This was important as hunger did not primarily result from a lack of food - it stemmed from a lack of purchasing power for the marginalised and poor. Protecting human rights was thus a vital part of the international community's response to the crisis. The right to food enriched the toolbox of solutions to the global food crisis by emphasising the institutional dimensions that could be added to business and emergency responses when the hungry needed to be fed. Since the 1990s, the right to food had become operational. States needed to take it better into account when creating national strategies - this would improve targeting of efforts to combat hunger and malnutrition.

In order to do this, there was a need to map hunger and vulnerability, and remove the causes thereof - this would be the first step towards the realisation of the right to food. The right to food improved sustainability, and by adopting national strategies and framework laws, Governments would be under pressure to remain on track in this regard. A number of States in recent laws had adopted such framework laws, and had moved to the statement that every person had a human right to adequate food. The right to food increased solidarity - it had an international extraterritorial dimension, requiring that the international environment be shaped towards its realisation. In the current international discussions there was essentially no reference to the 700 million wageworkers on farms who represented 20 per cent of the hungry. ILO Conventions needed to be respected even in rural areas, and the ability of labour inspectorates in such areas should be strengthened - if the United Nations truly wished to help States to meet the challenges of the food crisis, one way would be to contribute to the implementation of the ILO Conventions.

The right to land also meant the right to access to land, and to productive resources as a part of the right to food- agrarian reform was part of the solutions to eliminating hunger and poverty throughout the world. Some States had committed to agrarian reform, but monitoring of this was insufficient. The right to land was also an issue of self-determination, and this was under threat by transnational corporations who bought up land. There was a question of choices to be made of different modes of agricultural production - the green revolution had significantly enhanced yields in some countries in the 1940s and 1960s, but had however a number of downsides, and a number of problems. The international assessment on agricultural sciences for development had noted that they had primarily benefited the corporations, rather than the most vulnerable. There should be a paradigm shift in the way food was produced. Agriculture should contribute to decelerating climate change.

Interactive Dialogue

JUAN ANTONIO FERNANDEZ PALACIOS, (Cuba), speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned-Movement, said that hunger constituted a violation of human dignity. The global food crisis posed a serious challenge to the fight against poverty and hunger, as well as to the efforts by developing countries to attain food security and achieve the objective to halve the number of undernourished people by 2015 and other Millennium Development Goals. The multiple and complex causes of the food crisis required a comprehensive, coordinated and sustained response by the international community. Any possible solution should include a multi-faceted approach requiring short, medium, and long-term actions. The human rights dimension should be fully taken into account by the international economic trade and financial institutions which must be re-founded so as to make them open, equitable, non-coercive, rules-based, predictable and non-discriminatory.

Achieving food security would require strengthening and revitalizing the agriculture sector in developing countries, including through international cooperation, the empowerment of small and medium scale farmers, technical assistance, access to and transfer of technology and exchange of knowledge and experience. The Non-Aligned-Movement believed that the current economic and financial crisis had, inter alia, aggravated the impact of the world food crisis all over the world, with particular emphasis on developing countries. Which structural changes were needed at the international level, so as to avoid the recurrence of such crises? Developing countries had strongly struggled, and continued to do so, for the full implementation of the right to development. What impact could the full implementation of the right to development have in the capacity of developing countries to face similar crises in the future?

TOMAS HUSAK (Czech Republic), speaking on behalf of the European Union, welcomed the organization of this panel discussion and thanked the High Commissioner and panellists for their interesting and informative opening statements. Although the peak of the world market prices was over at the moment, the food security of hundreds of millions of people was still threatened and as the financial crisis aggravated the impacts of the food crisis, the urgent need to discuss and find ways to implement the right to food remained. In the context of the High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security for All, the European Union wanted to know how had the High Level Task Force, in its task to create an action plan for addressing the crisis and coordinate its implementation, integrated gender perspective and the principle of non-discrimination? In the context of vulnerable groups mostly affected by the crisis, the European Union asked, what measures at the national and international level should be taken in practice, so that the voice of the vulnerable groups could be heard and their right to participation was guaranteed when solving the problems of food security?

IMRAN AHMED SIDDIQUI, (Pakistan), speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said the 2007-2008 food crisis threatened the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of the poorest and the most vulnerable people in the world - some 850 million people faced food insecurity. To find a long-term and sustainable solution to the global food situation, there should be a thorough diagnosis of the problem - the increased demands of food, droughts, international trade regime distortions, fall of the dollar, increased demands for bio-fuels, the global financial volatility and others all contributed to the crisis in one way or another. Inadequate purchasing power and marginalisation of small-hold farmers were at the root of the problem of increasing hunger - there was a real need to reduce the difference between farm-gate prices and consumer purchase prices.

Building the resilience of countries against external shocks and ensuring that the households that were the most vulnerable to food security were shielded from the impact of increases in prices should form the basis of any future global food security strategy. The concept of a new global partnership in agriculture and food was welcomed - it was important to highlight at the same time that international aid to developing country agriculture had been seriously inadequate. The immediate challenge was to help those who were affected the most through increasing food supplies - passivity or inappropriate reaction constituted a violation of the right to food.

ALLEHONE MULUGETA ABEBE (Ethiopia) said that the question of the right to food often involved a complex set of issues with policy, programme and rights based dimensions. As a country striving to reverse decades-long cycles of food insecurity, Ethiopia acknowledged the importance of a more holistic and comprehensive approach. In an effort to address both the structural and short-term challenges, the Government, in cooperation with its development partners, had developed the food security programme which anticipated helping the country achieve food security in five years. Building household assets through farm activities, voluntary resettlements and a safety net programme were the key components of the programme. This programme also took into account the specific needs of women, children, the elderly and vulnerable groups.

The impact of the global food crisis, coupled with the current economic and financial crisis was putting Ethiopia's national programmes at risk. The gains that had been achieved earlier were now easily compromised, unless courageous and effective measures would be taken both at the national and international level. Ethiopia had taken effective measures including importation of food items, and elimination or reduction of taxes in certain commodities. It had also started a continuing dialogue with producers, distributors and retailers with the view to address the problem. But the realization of the right to food particularly at the time of current complex economic situations remained a daunting task. Ethiopia, therefore, urged the international community to step up it cooperative and collaborative efforts.

ASADOLLAH ESHRAGH JAHROMI (Iran) welcomed the initiative to hold a panel discussion on the right to food, as an important concern for all members of the international community. With regard to the food crisis in the world, Iran expressed its grave concern at its worsening, which seriously undermined the realization of the right to food for all. Shortages of food jeopardized the well-being and rights of countless people including vulnerable populations. States must support and extend cooperation to others in need of assistance. Pledges to such cooperation and solidarity were enshrined in the United Nations Charter, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Millennium Development Goals. Iran called upon the Human Rights Council as well as States, individually and through international cooperation and assistance, to take all necessary measures to ensure the realization of the right to food as an essential human rights objective, and to review any policies or measures including economic, and financial sanctions which had a negative impact on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights including the right to food.

MAIANE SY (Senegal) said the world food crisis had affected developing countries particularly, and in responding to this the Government of Senegal had taken an innovative national effort, paying attention to the access of women to credits and land, making it sure to create parity in rural areas between men and women in agricultural efforts, which was one of the best ways in developing countries to ensure the right to food. In addition, answers should be found to combating the climate change that had a serious effect on the agriculture of developing countries, preventing a large proportion of their population to achieve the right to food.

The commitment of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food was impressive.

LUO CHENG (China) welcomed the panel discussion on the right to food. In the context of the economic and financial crisis, the world tended to focus on that crisis. But the food crisis was far from over. Climate change had an ever-increasing impact on the food crisis. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights both affirmed that the right to food was one of the most fundamental rights. China reiterated that in the context of the economic and financial crisis, women and children were under a particularly serious threat. China welcomed the World Food Summit which was held last year in Rome. The Chinese government attached great importance to food security and continued international cooperation on the issue. It also provided support for developing countries.

CARLOS PORTALES (Chile), speaking on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries, thanked the panellists for their excellent contributions as well as the contributions of the Special Rapporteur. The right to food was a very important topic for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries. The right to food was a right for every person. The right to food should be mainstreamed throughout all States policies. The obstacles standing in the way were a result of factors which were multifaceted, and as such required multidimensional solutions to address them. The food crisis was caused by climate change, the impact of financial speculation on energy sources, and agricultural subsidies which negatively affected world food trade. It was important to increase production of food, and to remove all obstacles that distorted trade, commerce and production of food. The Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries supported the work towards lasting solutions to this crisis and to protect the rights of the most vulnerable in doing so.

JEAN FEYDER (Luxembourg) said that during future conferences on the food crisis, the representatives of civil society and farmers' associations should be fully associated. The concept of the right to food should be fully retained, as had been suggested by Ms. Pillay, in declarations that were the outcomes of global conferences. With regards to trade rules, a role that was often negative had been played by structural adjustment programmes - was the United Nations prepared to recommend a review of such programmes, Luxembourg asked, as the problem was the purchasing power of the smallest and most vulnerable farmers. Did the United Nations recognise fully this problem facing the volatility of prices, which discouraged any investment, and what was it proposing to solve this issue, which was absolutely crucial, Luxembourg asked.

CLEMENS F. J. BOONEKAMP, of the World Trade Organization, said that they probably had no difference of substance and not even on nuance. The only differences that existed were rather on emphasis. Governments were free to make the policy choices that they thought appropriate to achieve food security. This goal might be self-sufficiency. Trade was part of a policy that could lead to food security. This was not trade for trade, but trade to achieve a concrete goal, which was food security. The World Trade Organization had a dossier on aid for trade and sought to eliminate tariffs and obstacles to trade, in order to achieve food security for all. There was a duty to clean up the system, so that trade was part of a policy system and could achieve what was their goal: food security for all people.

DINESH BHATTARAI (Nepal) thanked the panellists on the right to food for their valuable and extensive reports. Nepal noted the enormity and severity of the challenges facing the most vulnerable, marginalized and weakest sections of society, which were hit the hardest as a result of the food crisis. They recognized that poverty and hunger were 70 per cent rural and 70 per cent women. The right to food as a human rights was enshrined in the Constitution of Nepal. The Government of Nepal was geared towards making this a reality in life. The Government of Nepal said that in order to address this crisis, there was a need for a comprehensive strategy which aimed at increasing access to infrastructure and to new technologies, and at the same time it was necessary to remove distortions at the international level.

MUSTAFIZUR RAHMAN (Bangladesh) said the right to food was a fundamental human right. Yet, reports indicated that one in six individuals in the world did not have enough to eat. Regrettably, the number was increasing every year - the global food crisis and its impacts, the global financial crisis and climate change, three of the most extraordinary developments of our time had compounded an already prevailing precarious situation. The deepest causes thereof lay in the fact that this was a planet where resources were limited - only a limited amount of good land was available for food production. Global concerted action was needed at all levels, and should be at the heart of action to protect the right to food.

Agricultural subsidies distorted the world food market, as did monopoly in the food production, and should be discontinued. World leaders had committed themselves in 2000 to tackle this issue, but there had yet to be discernable results. The eradication of hunger should be a priority of the international community. Protection of the human rights of the people was the responsibility of the State - but in the globalised world, the vast range of human rights were interlinked through the global and financial system. As a result, focusing only on State action to tackle the process was maybe not the right approach.

ALEXANDRE GUIDO LOPES PAROLA (Brazil) said that the right to food was a longstanding Brazilian commitment. President Lula had chosen as a priority the fight against hunger and poverty. Millions of citizens had been rescued from poverty and now had access to food. The difficulties of many countries to grow their own food were due to the distortion of international markets. There was a parallel between cost of fertilizers, the cost of transportation and commodity prices. The distortion practices in the developed world had to be analyzed in order to address the global food crisis. Brazil added that the main report on the right to food prepared by Mr. De Schutter did not contain any reference to subsidies in the main part and that there were only negative comments on subsidies in the annexes. This was not true for developing countries. Restrictions and distortions of the markets had to be prevented since they were the main underlying causes for the current crisis.

JESUS ENRIQUE GARCIA (Philippines) said that the Philippines associated itself with the statement of the Non-Aligned Movement, and thanked the panellists for their statements. The Philippines attached great importance to the realization of the right to food, as 35 per cent of the labour force in the country was engaged in the agricultural sector, and 20 per cent of the country's gross domestic product was derived there from. Unfair economic policies and subsidies also undermined efforts towards a global fair deal in agriculture that could sustain agricultural sectors of developing countries. The Philippines asked the panellists to comment on the effects of the global economic and financial crises on the food crisis, especially how it impacted the human rights of vulnerable groups; and were there any opportunities provided by the global economic downturn to reform agricultural systems and help improve productivity and food distribution in developing countries?

GLAUDINE J. MTSHALI (South Africa) said the Council's mandate to positively contribute to the realisation of the right to food amidst the current global food crisis should be reaffirmed. The current global financial and food crises had presented many challenges and obstacles towards the practical enjoyment of economic, social and political rights. The catastrophic effects of the financial and economic crises had further exacerbated efforts aimed at mitigating the negative effect of the pre-existing global food crisis. There was great concern about the impact of these crises on the world's poorest, particularly the various vulnerable groups. Gender-sensitive policies should be adopted in dealing with the current global financial and food crises.

South Africa would work with the Human Rights Council to ensure that any concrete effort undertaken at the level of the Council on the realisation of the right to food would be comprehensive, sustainable, and aim at contributing towards the attainment of Millennium Development Goal number 1 on eradicating extreme hunger and poverty.

PETER SPLISTER, of Amnesty International, said that Amnesty International welcomed the attention that this Council was giving to the right to food as well as this panel discussion on the realization of the right to food. It was important that the Council discussed national and international systemic issues related to the respect, protection and fulfillment of the right to food. However, the Council would not be credible in addressing the right to food if it did not also address situations where governments deliberately violated the right to food as a tool of political coercion. The Government of Sudan had expelled thirteen international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from Darfur and it had revoked the registration of another four national NGOs. This deliberate action of the Government of Sudan would have a devastating effect on the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Darfur. Among other grave consequences was the fact that up to 1.1 million persons might soon be without food. These persons were placed at a heightened risk of starvation, disease and death. This deliberate action of the Government of Sudan was a terrifying example of a Government denying the right to food as a political weapon.

MALIK OZDEN, of Europe-Third World Centre, in a joint statement with several NGOs1,said that the victims of the food crisis were small scale farmers, who were extremely vulnerable and were faced with violations of the right to life and food. International trade favoured the law of the strongest - trasnational corporations. The policy of most States ran counter to their obligations of human rights, which further aggravated the consequences of the crisis. Farmers had been oppressed throughout history through political, economic and spiritual means. Giving farmers their rights could only be for the benefit of all people in the world.

Paul Nicholson, of La Via Campesina, responding to the questions and issues raised by speakers, said that food was local, it was not global, and it was not the global markets that fed the world. There should be a focus on policies to make food production at local level possible- and this meant a new paradigm in development. Food sovereignty was the right to produce food - for Governments and peoples to develop their own food strategies. It was a question of focusing priorities and food policy at the local level. On the impact of the economic and financial crisis - what was happening was that there were lower prices at the farm gate, and a proportionally higher price at shop level. The situation was going to become far graver.

Land, water and seeds were increasing in price and this meant production levels would be very difficult to maintain. There was an increase in conflicts between corporate agriculture and family-farm or peasant agriculture over water and land. The role of civil society and peasant organizations and grass-roots organizations was fundamental in developing with Governments policies which could be implemented and answered directly requirements at the local level. The International Convention on Peasant's Rights was fundamental in this regard.

ANDREA CARMEN, of the International Indian Treaty Council, responding to questions and comments, said regarding the action States could take to protect the most vulnerable, that the distinction of various bodies of human rights would take us away from concrete action. Regarding minimum standards and the range of rights, she referred to the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The State obligation was to give legal recognition to territories of indigenous peoples, which was fundamental since they were the resources for the production of food. One of the principles of actions in this field had to be partnership with the indigenous peoples. States also had the obligation to monitor the compliance with human rights by international companies active on their territory. Also, climate change could not be minimized in the context of this discussion.

DAVID NABARRO, Coordinator with the Secretary-General's High Level task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis, responding to comments, said the Secretary-General had a commitment to report to the General Assembly on the food crisis, and as such would be including the concerns and questions raised here today. The structural changes needed had to be those that were designed for resilience for all sectors affected. The work that UNICEF had done along with the analytical information from the Food and Agriculture Organization would be emphasized by the High-Level Task Force's report. In response to the delegation of the Philippines, Mr. Nabarrro said that an increase of the agriculture sector was needed and was central to their work. The United Nations did recognize that price increases due to volatility were a cause of the food crisis, and that the Task Force wanted to consult with individual Member States further on the volatility of food prices. The outcome of the Rome Conference was negotiated by Member States. Mr. Nabarro paid respect to the Government of Spain for holding its high level meeting on the right to food. With regard to the delegation of South Africa, the Task Force would ensure that they provided them with information on financial institutions in this context as requested. Further, members of the United Nations Task Force on the Global Food Crisis were concerned that no persons were denied humanitarian aid, especially with regard to food systems.

JEAN ZIEGLER, Member of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, responding to questions and comments, said there was a fundamental contradiction between the Human Rights Council and the standard-setting approach to the right to food and the approach of the World Trade Organization (WTO). A decision had been taken to eliminate subsidies on agricultural exports - however, these were still there at this time. The whole structure of the WTO was for the elimination of agricultural dumping - but the Doha round was bogged down, and dumping continued. There was a fundamental contradiction between the right to food as explained here, and the continuing problems caused by the agricultural policies of the North on the economies of the South.

With regards to the relationship between the financial crisis and the rapid progression of hunger, what UNCTAD wanted was to take the trading of corn, rice and wheat out of the world markets and make sure there were international public contracts to stabilise their prices, so they were no longer subject to fluctuations created by speculation. The idea had been to take away these prices from fluctuation - the agreements had been established, but had now been dropped. Mr. Ziegler said he was convinced that the solution suggested by UNCTAD to the international community was the only one that would make it possible to stabilise prices for basic food items at levels that were acceptable to consumers. An abrupt structural change in capitalism and the market was the right solution.

OLIVIER DE SCHUTTER, Special Rapporteur on the right to food, responding to the comments and questions, said regarding the structural reforms that were needed, in his report he had put forward a number of recommendations. He corrected the understanding of the Brazilian delegation and said that the distortion of the agricultural markets had to be stopped. States did what they must do, but the success of the reforms had to trickle down to the poorest. There had to be a virtual fund in order to stabilize prices. Small farmers bought at retail prices and sold at wholesale prices. They were not able to negotiate these prices. Also, the growing gap between the prices that consumers had to pay and that producers got paid had to be addressed. From an environmental point of view, the region of Africa that depended on rain would see a drop in production, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. There had to be a move towards more environmental-friendly production methods.

SVEIN MICHELSEN (Norway) said that it was imperative that the right to food was understood as a necessary approach in tackling the international food security crisis that was being witnessed. The right to food was important in a development cooperation context, because the approach was redefining the relationship between donor and partner. Food-related aid should make sure that the partner was placed in the driver's seat. Norway believed that long-term responses to those challenges should be based on national processes. The Governments themselves must be given a chance to plan and implement their own policies. The task of the United Nations and international stakeholders should be the role of supporters. With its new white paper on international development, the Norwegian Government had put renewed emphasis on climate sensitive assistance as well as agricultural development. Norway believed that this would be a contribution to the strengthening of food security and combating hunger.

MURIEL BERSET (Switzerland) said the panel discussion gave a possibility to tackle the right to food in its complex details, and to hear from experts from all over the world. A number of approaches stood today - by States, national and international institutions and others - there should be a multi-sectoral global approach to dealing with the crisis, and the guidelines to the right to food adopted back in 2004 should guide this. Measures to correct the economic situation should also take into account the situation of women, who were often the first affected by such crises - in particular the situation of rural women. It was essential to keep all stakeholders mobilised over a long period of time.

The right to food should be integrated into all actions and steps aimed at solving the food crisis. It was important to have policies linked up to the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food in an efficient way. The impact of climate change on the production of food was of great concern. Land use and access to land played a very important role in the achievement of the right to food, but also other rights. Was cooperation between the various Special Rapporteurs and the institutions concerned being considered, Switzerland asked.

MOHAMMAD ATHO MUDZHAR (Indonesia) said that Indonesia was of the view that the issues of malnutrition and hunger were not only caused by the lack of food but also by the inequality of income and the lack of access to health, education, clean water and sanitation facilities. In this vein, the right to food strongly interlinked with the right to education, to work, as well as the right to health. Hence, the efforts to provide food for all and the fight against poverty should be our common goals. Indonesia was fully aware that food scarcity and malnutrition were generally concentrated in the rural and remote areas. In this regard, Indonesia concurred with the view that investments in the agricultural sector and rural communities at large were among the main preconditions to expedite the efforts to reduce food scarcity.

Indonesia considered that international cooperation was crucial for the realization of the right to food. In the context of food aid, Indonesia fully shared the views on the urgency for donor countries to step up their efforts in their obligations to provide food aid as well as to improve their contribution to the realization of the right to food for all. In this respect, the principle of ownership of countries' development cooperation policies should be respected and this involved the participation of national parliaments and civil society organizations. The realization of the right to food required their collective and consistent effort with strategies that were cohesive and not piecemeal or temporary. These strategies must assure a reliable access to food for the human populace that would in turn aid the eradication of hunger.

IDRISS JAZAIRY (Algeria) said that Algeria supported the statements of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and The Non-Aligned Movement. The World food Summit in 2006 resulted in a vow by the international community to reduce the number of hungry people in the world by half by 2015. The Millennium Development Goals aimed to reduce the number of proportionately hungry people in the world by half. In response to the rising level of hunger in the world as a result of the economic and financial crisis, nothing was being done. Algeria asked if all States were violating international law in respect to their international obligations to address the right to food? The right to water was also being violated. With the increase in bio-fuels production, and with regard to the food crisis, there was a need to develop non-diverted food crops. Countering the population of traditional food subsistence, food production should be a topic of concern to the Council. The food crisis continued to remain much higher than historical levels, while energy levels crashed below historical levels, the right to food had been taken as hostage and needed to be addressed.

IBRAHIM SAIED MOHAMED AL-ADOOFI (Yemen), speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, said the right to food lay at the very basis of human rights, indeed of all other human rights. When a person was hungry, then that affected all their other rights. The food crisis faced by the world community in 2007-2008 and that still had its consequences was not the first, nor the last, nor did it arise from nowhere, but was the result of trade policies and practices which had driven many below the poverty level, particularly in the least-developed countries. People in developed countries had been forced to import produce, rather than grow it on their own land. Trade constraints had ensured that most countries had met their food needs by importing from abroad. The Millennium Development Goals, in particular Goal number 1, were very far from being met - there was a need for cooperation from all in order to deal with the factors enhancing the food crisis, in particular as there was a growing trend towards the growing of bio-fuels, replacing subsistence crops.

Most least-developed countries, in particular the Arab States, relied to a great extent on agriculture, and were thus dependent on exports, affecting internal food security, as they relied on exports to meet their own food needs. The South-South trade movement was one way around this. There was a moral obligation to reduce the sufferings of peoples - to leave it up to the merciless market was wrong, as this took a long time, during which many died of hunger. Every possible opportunity should be done to ensure that food supplies were made available, and the international community should ensure food security and ensure that these policies were fulfilled.

IBRAHIM SAIED MOHAMED AL-ADOOFI (Yemen), speaking in its national capacity, said that Yemen, as one of the least developed countries, thanked Mr. De Schutter for his report. The report represented a valuable contribution to the discussion. Yemen especially emphasized the importance of the recommendation that donors and recipients had to assume their obligations. The right to food and food security, as set out in various United Nations Declarations, were of a vital importance in a situation of globalization. The economic and financial crisis had also added to the problem that only a few benefited from international trade and but all suffered the negative consequences of the economic and financial crisis. Yemen extended an invitation to Mr. De Schutter to visit Yemen and provide the necessary advice for the implementation of measures needed to attain food security there.
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1Joint statement on behalf of: Europe-Third World Centre; African Association of Education for Development; International Association of Democratic Lawyers; International Federation of Rural Adult Catholic Movements; World Federation of Trade Unions; Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples; Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; and Foodfirst Information and Action Network (FIAN)


For use of the information media; not an official record

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