Right to food

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v t e

The right to food, and its variations, is a human right protecting the right for people to feed themselves in dignity, implying that sufficient food is available, that people have the means to access it, and that it adequately meets the individual's dietary needs. The right to food protects the right of all human beings to be free from hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. ^[2]

The right is derived from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights^[3] which has 160 state parties as of May 2012.^[4] States that have signed the covenant agreed to take steps to the maximum of their available resources to achieve progressively the full realization of the right to adequate food, both nationally and internationally.^[5]

At the 1996 World Food Summit, governments reaffirmed the right to food and committed themselves to half the number of hungry and malnourished to 420 million by 2015. However, the number has increased over the past years, reaching an infamous record in 2009 of more than 1 billion undernourished people worldwide.^[6]

At present, 22 countries have enshrined the right to food in their constitution, either for all citizens or specifically for children.

Contents 1 Definition 1.1 Dimensions 2 Philosophy 3 International timeline 3.1 United Nations organisations 3.2 United Nations others 3.3 Regional 3.4 Other documents 4 Legal status 4.1 State obligations 5 State-by-state 5.1 Bangladesh 5.2 Benin 5.3 Bolivia 5.4 Brazil 5.5 Canada 5.6 China 5.7 Cuba 5.8 Ecuador 5.9 Ethiopia 5.10 Guatamala 5.11 India 5.12 Lebanon 5.13 Madagascar 5.14 Malawi 5.15 Mali 5.16 Mexico 5.17 Mongolia 5.18 Mozambique 5.19 Nicaragua 5.20 Niger 5.21 Nepal 5.22 Nicaragua 5.23 Occupied Palestinian Territories 5.24 South Africa 5.25 Syria 6 Mechanisms to achieve the right to food 6.1 Interrelation to other rights 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links

Definition

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) recognizes the "right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food", as well as the "fundamental right to be free from hunger". The relationship between the two concepts is not straightforward. For example, "freedom from hunger" (which General Comment 12 designates as more pressing and immediate^[7]) could be measured by the number of people suffering from malnutrition and at the extreme, dying of starvation. The "right to adequate food" is a much higher standard, including not only absence of malnutrition, but to the full range of qualities associated with food, including safety, variety and dignity, in short all those elements needed to enable an active and healthy life.

Inspired by the above definition, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food in 2002 defined it as follows:

"The right to have regular, permanent and unrestricted access, either directly or by means of financial purchases, to quantitatively and qualitatively adequate and sufficient food corresponding to the cultural traditions of the people to which the consumer belongs, and which ensure a physical and mental, individual and collective, fulfilling and dignified life free of fear."^[8]

This definition entails all normative elements explained in detail in the General Comment 12 of the ICESCR, which states:

"...the right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, have the physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement."^{[9][note 2]}

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the right to food does not imply that governments have an obligation to hand out free food to everyone who wants it. This is a common misconception.

"The right to food . . . is not the right to be fed, but the right to feed oneself in dignity. However, if individuals are deprived of access to food for reasons beyond their control, recognition of the right to life obliges States to provide them with sufficient food for their survival."^[10]

Dimensions

The former Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, defined three dimensions to the right to food.^[11]

• Availability implies that food must be available from natural resources through the cultivation of land, animal husbandry, the production of food, fishing, hunting or gathering. Moreover, it implies that food should be available for sale in shops and markets.

• Accessibility implies that economic and physical access to food is to be guaranteed. On the one hand, economic access means that food should be affordable for an adequate diet without compromising other basic needs. On the other hand, physically vulnerable, such as sick, children, disabled or elderly should also have access to food.

• Adequacy implies that that the food must satisfy the dietary needs of every individual, taking into account age, living conditions, health, occupation, sex, culture and religion, for example. Moreover, food should be free from adverse and contaminating substances, such as pesticides, hormones, or veterinary drugs.

Philosophy

The philosopher John Locke discussed the right to food when talking about the origins of property in the development of civil society in his Two Treatises of Government, published in 1689. Locke subscribed to the biblical notion that God gave the earth and all its produce in common to all mankind.^[12] However, in this state of nature humans are not entitled to take any part of the earth or its produce for private use:

"All the fruits it naturally produces and animals that it feeds, as produced by the spontaneous hand of nature, belong to mankind in common; nobody has a basic right—a private right that excludes the rest of mankind – over any of them as they are in their natural state."^[13]

Nevertheless, as given by natural reason, humans have a right to survive. Through labour, Locke argued, humans can remove an item from the common state that nature had placed it in. “Labour is unquestionably the property of the labourer,” writes Locke and, in labour one adds to it something that is one’s own and “in that way he makes it his property.”^[14] No other human has a right to anything that labour is joined to, writes Locke, but there is one condition; this applies only “where there is enough, and as good, left in common for others.”^[15]

According to Locke, most things useful to the life of man are short in duration: they will decay and perish if they are not consumed. The only obligation humans had was to use items before they spoiled.

“What would take him beyond the bounds of his rightful property was not having a great deal but letting something spoil instead of being used.”^[16]

One could either give items away, trade them for other items that could decay, or trade them for durable items, such as metal. This is how money came into use “as a durable thing.”^[17]

International timeline

This section provides an overview of international developments relevant to the establishment and implementation of the right to food from 1945 onwards.^[18]

United Nations organisations

• 1945 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is founded.

• 1996 The FAO organises the 1996 World Food Summit, in Rome. It requested that the right to food be given a more concrete and operational content.^[19] This resulted in the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and World Food Summit Plan of Action.^[20]

"We pledge our political will and our common and national commitment to achieving food security for all and to an ongoing effort to eradicate hunger in all countries, with an immediate view to reducing the number of undernourished people to half their present level no later than 2015."^[21]

• 2002 At the World Food Summit in June, the FAO adopted the World Food Summit: Five Years Later Declaration^[22] calling for the establishment of a intergovernmental working group to prepare a set of guidelines on the implementation of the right to food^[23] In November, the FAO Council set up an Intergovernmental Working Group which drafts the Right to Food Guidelines.^[24]

• 2004 Adoption of the Right to Food Guidelines, by the 187 Member States of the General Council of the FAO.^[25] The Right to Food Guidelines offer guidance to States on how to implement their obligations on the right to food, to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security. The Right to Food Guidelines are not legally binding but draw upon international law and provide guidance on the implementation of existing obligations. They are directed towards States Parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and to States that still have to ratify it.^[26] The Guidelines build on international law and are a set of recommendations States have chosen on how to implement their obligations under Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.^[27]

• 2008 High-Level Conference on World Food Security convened in June, in Rome. Among others, biofuels policies and agriculture subsidies were called into question as having negative impacts on the reduction of hunger.^[28]

• 2009 World Summit on Food Security takes place in Rome. State leaders agreed

"to work to reverse the decline in domestic and international funding for agriculture and promote new investment in the sector, to improve governance of global food issues in partnership with relevant stakeholders from the public and private sector, and to proactively face the challenges of climate change to food security."^[29]

• 1961 Establishment of the World Food Programme.^[30]

• 1977 Establishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development^[31]

United Nations others

• 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognises the right to food in Article 25: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."

• 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) reiterates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with regards to the right to an adequate standard of living, including food, and specifically recognises the right to be free from hunger in Article 11.

• 1976 ICESCR comes into force

• 1987 Establishment of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) overseeing the implementation of the ICESCR. Moreover, this begins a more precise legal interpretation of ICESCR.

• 1999 Adoption of General Comment No.12 ‘The Right to Adequate Food’ by the CESCR describing the various State obligations derived from the ICESCR regarding the right to food.^[32] It places three types of obligation on States Parties: the obligation to respect, to protect and to fulfil the right to food (which includes the obligations to facilitate and to provide).^[33]

• 2009 Adoption of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, making the right to food justiciable at the international level.

• 1974 UN World Food Conference – adoption of the Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition.^[34] Moreover, this lead to the creation of the World Food Council in December 1974. However, the Council was officially suspended in 1993 while its functions were absorbed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Food Programme.

• 1985 Food Aid Convention.^[35]

• 2012 Food Assistance Convention - the first legally binding international treaty on food aid, adopted on 25 April 2012.

• 1993 Human Rights Congress in Vienna, establishment of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

• 1983 The former UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities appoints a Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food.^[36]

• 1987 Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food submits final report to the Sub-Commission.^[37] Final report of Asbjørn Eide, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Food of the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1987/23). The FAO called Mr Asbjørn Eide's report "seminal" and had a "great influence," though it was perhaps ahead of its time, with the then given the global geopolitics.^[38]

• 1999 Mr Eide updated his study in 1999 at the request of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, the successor to the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of iscrimination and Protection of Minorities. Updated study on the right to food, submitted by Mr. Asbjørn Eide, UN Document No E/CN.4/Sub.2/1999/12, 28 June 1999.^[39]

• 2000 Adoption of the Millennium Development Goals, including Goal 1: to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

• 2000 The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food is established by the former Commission on Human Rights^[40] which appoints the first Rapporteur, Mr. Jean Ziegler.^[41] In 2008 the second Rapporteur, Mr. Olivier De Schutter, is appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, the successor to the Commission.^[42] The Rapporteur is expected to report both to the Human Rights Council and to the UN General Assembly (Third Committee) on the fulfilment of the mandate. The mendate includes: and to promote the full realization of the right to food and the adoption of measures at the national, regional and international levels," "to examine ways and means of overcoming existing and emerging obstacles," continue mainstreaming and taking into account gender and age perspectives, to submit proposals to realise Millennium Development Goal No. 1 to halve by the year 2015 the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, to work in close cooperation with all States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and the CESCR, and participating in and contributing to relevant conferences.^[43]

Regional

• 1988 Adoption of the right to food (Art.12) in the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (the “Protocol of San Salvador”)

• 2001 African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights recognizes the right to food under African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.^[44]

Other documents

• 1993 International Food Security Treaty (IFST) developed in USA and Canada.^[45]

• 1998 Conference on Consensus Strategy on the Right To Food held in Santa Barbara, California, USA with anti-hunger experts from five continents. ^[46]

• 2010 A group of national and international organisations create a proposal to replace the European Union Common Agricultural Policy, which is due for change in 2013. The first article of The new Common Food and Agriculture Policy "considers food as a universal human right, not merely a commodity."^[47]

Legal status

The right to food is protected under international human rights and humanitarian law.^[48]

International law

The right to food is recognized in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 25.) as part of the right to an adequate standard of living, and is enshrined in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 11).^[49]

International instruments

It is also recognized in specific international instruments such as the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (Articles 24(2)(c) and 27(3)), the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Articles 12(2)), or the 2007 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Articles 25(f) and 28(1)).^[50]

Regional instruments

The right to food is also recognized in regional instruments, such as the 1988 Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the area of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights or Protocol of San Salvador, the 1990 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the 2003 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa or Maputo Protocol. There are also such instruments in many national constitutions.^[51]

Non-legally binding instruments

There are several non-legally binding international human rights instruments instruments relevant to the right to food. They include recommendations, guidelines, resolutions or declarations. The most detailed is the Right to Food Guidelines. They are a practical tool to help implement the right to adequate food.^[52]

State obligations

State obligations related to the right to food are well-established under international law.^[53] By signing the ICESCR states agreed to take steps to the maximum of their available resources to achieve progressively the full realization of the right to adequate food. They also acknowledge the essential role of international cooperation and assistance in this context.^[54] This obligation was reaffirmed by the CESCR.^[55] Signatories to the Right to Food Guidelines also committed to implementing the right to food at a national level.

The CESCR intepreted the states' obligation as being of three types: the obligation to respect, protect and to fulfil.^[56]

• Respect implies that states must never arbitrarily prevent people from having access to food.

• Protect means that states should take measures to protect people's of the right to food from being violated by third parties, such as individuals and corporations.

• Fulfil entails that governments must pro-actively strengthen people’s ability to feed themselves. If, for reasons beyond their control, groups or individuals are unable to enjoy their right to food, then states have the obligation to fulfil that right directly.

Moreover, States are required to provide an enabling environment that allows people to use their full potential to produce or buy adequate food for themselves and families. This may imply the implementation of appropriate wage policies or social safety nets.^[57]

The ICESCR recognises that the right to freedom from hunger requires international cooperation, and relates to matters of production, the agriculture and global supply. Article 11 states that:

"The States Parties to the present Covenant... shall take, individually and through international co-operation, the measures, including specific programmes, which are needed: (a) To improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources; (b) Taking into account the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need."

The implementation of the right to food standards at national level has consequences for national constitutions, laws, courts, institutions, policies and programmes, and for various food security topics, such as fishing, land, focus on vulnerable groups, and access to resources.^[58]

National strategies on the progressive realization of the right to food should fulfill four functions:

1. define the obligations corresponding to the right to adequate food, whether these are the obligations of government or those of private actors;
2. improve the coordination between the different branches of government whose activities and programs may have an impact on the realization of the right to food;
3. set targets, ideally associated with measurable indicators, defining the timeframe within which particular objectives should be achieved;
4. provide for a mechanism ensuring that the impact of new legislative initiatives or policies on the right.^[59]

International

The right to food imposes on all States obligations not only towards the persons living on their national territory, but also towards the populations of other States. The right to food is only realised when both national and international obligations are complied with. On the one hand, is the impact of the international environment and, in particular, climate change, malnutrition and food insecurity. On the other hand, the international community can only contribute if legal frameworks and institutions are established at the national level.^[60]

Non-discrimination

Under article 2(2) of the ICESCR, governments agreed that the right to food will be exercised without discrimination on grounds of sex, colour, race, age, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.^[61] The CESCR stresses the special attention that should be given to disadvantaged and marginalized farmers, including women farmers, in a rural context.^[62]

State-by-state

This section provides an overview of the status of the right to food at a national level.

Bangladesh

In 2004, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Bangladesh.^[63]

Benin

In 2010, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Benin.^[64]

Bolivia

In 2007, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Bolivia.^[65]

Brazil

In 2003, the Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) government program is introduced by president Lula da Silva, with the objective to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty in Brazil.

In 2003, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Brazil.^[66]

In 2006, Brazil adopts a framework law on the right to food.^[67]

In 2007, Brazil’s National Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Water, and Rural Land files a successful class action on behalf of favela residents.^[68]

In 2010, the Brazilian House of Representatives votes a Constitutional amendment on the right to food.^[69]

In 2010, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Brazil.^[70]

In 2012, the Special Rapporteur, Mr. De Schutter, pointed to the example of Brazil to highlight the effectiveness of multi-year national framework laws on the right to food.^[71]

Canada

In 2012, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Canada.^[72]

China

In 2012, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to China.^[73]

Cuba

In 2007, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Cuba.^[74]

Ecuador

In 2008, Ecuador includes the right to food in its Constitution, approved on September 28 by 64% of the population in a referendum. Article 281, titled Food Sovereignty reads: "Food Sovereignty constitutes an objective and strategic obligation from the State to guarantee its people, communities, pueblos and nationalities self sufficiency in healthy food, culturally appropriate in a permanent form."^[75]

In 2009, Ecuador develops a Food Sovereignty Framework Law.^[76]

Ethiopia

In 2005, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Ethiopia.^[77]

Guatamala

In 2005, Guatemala adopts a framework law on the right to food.^[78]

In 2006, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Guatemala.^[79]

In 2010, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Guatemala.^[80]

India

Fifty percent of the world’s hungry live in India, with 200 million food-insecure people in 2008 according to the FAO. India ranks 66th out of 88 nations on the Global Hunger Index.^[81]

In 2001, India's Constitutional Court recognizes the right to food, transforming policy choices into enforceable rights.^[82] The case started with a written petition submitted to the Supreme Court in April 2001 by the People's Union for Civil Liberties, Rajasthan, leading to prolonged public interest litigation.^{[note 3]} Moreover, a larger public Right to Food Campaign is founded.^{[83][note 4]}

In 2005, India adopts its Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Right to Information Act.^[84]

In 2006, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to India.^[85]

In 2009, India is developing a National Food Security Act.^[86]

In 2011, the National Food Security Act 2011, popularly known as Right to Food Bill is proposed. The Bill guarantees subsidised food to 50 % of the urban population and 75 % of the rural population. The proposed legislation would provide seven kilogrammes of rice, wheat and coarse grain per person per month at very low prices to “priority households” similar to Below Poverty Line families. Distribution will be through the current Public Distribution System, a government-run ration and fair price shops.^[87]

Regarding India, the Special Rapporteur has commented:

"India provides one of the best examples in the world in terms of the justiciability of the right to food. The Constitution of India prohibits discrimination and recognizes all human rights. The right to life is recognized as a directly justiciable fundamental right (art. 21), while the right to food is defined as a directive principle of State policy (art. 47). As it has interpreted these provisions, the Supreme Court of India has found that the Government has a constitutional obligation to take steps to fight hunger and extreme poverty and to ensure a life with dignity for all individuals."^[88]

Lebanon

In 2006, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Lebanon.^[89]

Madagascar

In 2012, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Madagascar.^[90]

Malawi

2009, Malawi finalises its draft Right to Food Bill (adoption is scheduled for 2010).^[91]

Mali

In 2006, Mali adopts its Agricultural Policy Act.^[92]

Mexico

In 2011, a constitutional reform establishes the right to food in Mexico.^[93] The Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved the reform. The State now has an obligation to guarantee the right to food (Art. 4) and to guarantee that the supply of basic foods suffices through rural development (Art. 27):

"Art. 4: Every person has the right to adequate food to maintain his or her wellbeing and physical, emotional and intellectual development. The State must guarantee this right."

"Art. 27, Clause XX: Sustainable and integral rural development . . . will also have among its objectives that the State guarantee sufficient and timely supply of basic foods as established by the law."^[94]

In 2011, the Special Rapporteur releases an end of mission statement to his country mission to Mexico^[95]

In 2012, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Mexico.^[96]

Mongolia

In 2005, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Mongolia.^[97]

Mozambique

In 2009, Mozambique sets up a drafting Committee to elaborate a Right to Food Framework Law, which will submit a draft bill on the Right to Adequate Food to the government before the end of 2010.^[98]

Nicaragua

In 2010, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Nicaragua.^[99]

Niger

In 2002, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Niger.^[100]

In 2006, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Niger.^[101]

Nepal

In 2008, Nepal: A case on the right to food is filed in the Nepalese Constitutional Court, which issues an interim order for the immediate provision of food to hungry communities.^[102]

In 2009, Nepal includes the right to food sovereignty in its interim constitution.^[103]

Nicaragua

In 2009 Nicaragua adopts a framework law on the right to food.^[104]

Occupied Palestinian Territories

In 2004, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Occupied Palestinian Territories.^[105]

South Africa

In 1996, South Africa includes the right to food in its Constitution (Chapter 2, Section 27).^[106] All social and economic rights are justiciable under South African law and the South African Bill of Rights, incorporated into the Constitution, explicitly provides every person the right to have access to sufficient food and water, subject to progressive realization.^[107]

In 2005, a case gets brought before the South African Equality Court demanding the protection of the livelihoods of traditional fishers.^[108] In 2007, the Equality Court demands an alteration of the fishery policy to comply with the right to food.^[109]

In 2012, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to South Africa.^[110]

Syria

In 2011, the Special Rapporteur leads a country mission to Syria.^[111]

Mechanisms to achieve the right to food

The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Mr. De Schutter, urged the esteblishment in law of the right to food, so that it can be translated into national strategies and institutions. Furthermore, he recommended emerging economies to protect the rights of land users, in particular of minority and vulnerable groups. He also advised to support smallholder agriculture in the face of mega-development projects, and to stop soil and water degradation through massive shifts to agroecological practices. Finally, the UN expert suggested adopting a strategy to tackle rising obesity.^[112]

The Special Rapporteur identified several priority areas of work for his mandate^[113]:

Food Production and Resources

• Agroecology
• Land rights
• Seeds
• Biofuels
• Climate change
• Fishery
• Gender

Food Chains, Trade and Aid

• Trade
• Value chains & agribusiness
• Speculation
• Global food price crisis
• Food aid

Food Adequacy

• Nutrition

Food Policy-making

• Global governance
• Regional policy
• National implementation

Amartya Sen won his 1998 Nobel Prize in part for his work in demonstrating that hunger in modern times was not typically the product of a lack of food; rather, hunger usually arose from problems in food distribution networks or from governmental policies in the developing world.

Interrelation to other rights

The right to food is interrelated to other human rights, such as the right to life, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to water, the right to work, and the right to social security.

For example, according to the Committee overseeing the implementation of the ICESCR, “the right to water is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.” The need to have adequate water in order to have adequate food is in particular evident in the case of peasent farmers. Access to sustainable water resources for agriculture needs to be ensured to realise the right to food. ^[114] This applies even more strongly to subsistence agriculture.

See also

Food security Food sovereignty Food systems

Hunger Malnutrition Famine Starvation

Right to water Right to life Right to an adequate standard of living Right to work Right to social security

Food and Agriculture Organization World Food Programme International Fund for Agricultural Development

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

References

Country missions of the Special Rapporteur

External links

• United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
• Website former UN Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler
• UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Right to Food
• The Right to Food: Corporate, Foreign Gov’t Land Grab Causing Hunger in Poor Countries - video report by Democracy Now!
• Right to Food on the Children's Rights Portal.

v t e Substantive human rights Note: What is considered a human right is controversial and not all the topics listed are universally accepted as human rights. Civil and political Equality before the law Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment Freedom from discrimination Freedom from exile Freedom from slavery Freedom from torture Freedom of assembly Freedom of association Freedom of information Freedom of movement Freedom of religion Freedom of speech Freedom of thought Liberty Marriage Family LGBT rights Nationality Personhood Presumption of innocence Privacy Right of asylum Right to a fair trial Right to die Right to keep and bear arms Right to life Right to protest Security of person Universal suffrage Economic, social and cultural Equal pay for equal work Fair remuneration Labor rights Right to an adequate standard of living Right to development Right to education Right to food Right to health Right to housing Right to clothing Right to Internet access Right to property Right to public participation Right of return Right to science and culture Right to social security Right to water Right to work Trade union membership Reproductive Abortion Family planning Freedom from involuntary female genital mutilation Reproductive health War and conflict Civilian Combatant Freedom from genocide Prisoner of war War rape

v t e Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights   General principles Article 1: Freedom, Egalitarianism, Dignity and Brotherhood Article 2: Universality of rights   International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Articles 1 and 2: Right to freedom from discrimination Article 3: Right to life, liberty and security of person Article 4: Freedom from slavery Article 5: Freedom from torture or cruel and unusual punishment Article 6: Right to personhood Article 7: Equality before the law Article 8: Right to effective remedy from the law Article 9: Freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile Article 10: Right to a fair trial Article 11.1: Presumption of innocence Article 11.2: Prohibition of retrospective law Article 12: Right to privacy Article 13.1: Freedom of movement Article 13.2: Right of return Article 14: Right of asylum Article 15: Right to a nationality Article 16: Right to marriage and family life Article 17: Right to property Article 18: Freedom of thought, conscience and religion Article 19: Freedom of opinion and expression and information Article 20.1: Freedom of assembly Article 20.2: Freedom of association Article 21.1: Right to participation in government Article 21.2: Right of equal access to public office Article 21.3: Right to universal suffrage   International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Article 22: Right to social security Article 23.1: Right to work Article 23.2: Right to equal pay for equal work Article 23.3: Right to just remuneration Article 23.4: Right to join a trade union Article 24: Right to rest and leisure Article 25.1: Right to an adequate standard of living Article 25.2: Right to special care and assistance for mothers and children Article 26.1: Right to education Article 26.2: Human rights education Article 26.3: Right to choice of education Article 27: Right to science and culture   Context, limitations and duties Article 28: Social order Article 29.1: Social responsibility Article 29.2: Limitations of human rights Article 29.3: The supremacy of the purposes and principles of the United Nations Article 30: Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein. Human rights category · Human rights portal