Methods To Monitor The Human Right To Adequate Food

The publication presents the way to undertake a contextual interpretation of the international normative standards on the Human Right to Adequate Food in Nepal, including how relevant provisions under the domestic law could be integrated in a framework for identifying indicators. It discusses data generating mechanisms, highlights the role of different actors and institutions working in the field of the right to food, and provides guidance on the use of the framework.

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There is, literally, a world of difference between the statements "Everyone should have adequate food," and "Everyone has the right to adequate food." In George Kent's view, the lofty rhetoric of the first statement will not be fulfilled until we take the second statement seriously. Kent sees hunger as a deeply political problem. Too many people do not have adequate control over local resources and cannot create the circumstances that would allow them to do meaningful, productive work and provide for themselves. The human right to an adequate livelihood, including the human right to adequate food, needs to be implemented worldwide in a systematic way. Freedom from Want makes it clear that feeding people will not solve the problem of hunger, for feeding programs can only be a short-term treatment of a symptom, not a cure. The real solution lies in empowering the poor. Governments, in particular, must ensure that their people face enabling conditions that allow citizens to provide for themselves. In a wider sense, Kent brings an understanding of human rights as a universal system, applicable to all nations on a global scale. If, as Kent argues, everyone has a human right to adequate food, it follows that those who can empower the poor have a duty to see that right implemented, and the obligation to be held morally and legally accountable, for seeing that that right is realized for everyone, everywhere.

The Right to Food Guidelines provide practical guidance on ways to implement the right to adequate food in a wide range of policy and programmes areas through a human rights-based approach. Since the adoption of the Right to Food Guidelines, FAO and its partners have produced a wealth of tools, strengthened capacity, and facilitated multi-stakeholder dialogues worldwide. But the goal of realizing the right to food of everyone is not accomplished yet- over 820 million people are currently suffering from chronic hunger. This fifteen-Year Retrospective on the Right to Food Guidelines helps us look back and understand what has worked and why, where the bottlenecks lie, and how governments and their partners can be most effective in the fight against hunger and malnutrition.

This publication presents seven information papers and a case studies report that were prepared during the negotiation process preceding the adoption of the "Voluntary Guidelines to support the progressive realization of the rights to adequate food in the context of national food security." The information papers cover issues that were controversial during negotiations, or complex legal questions for which clarification was requested. The case studies report summarizes the outcome of studies commissioned in five countries to gather about practical in-country experiences with different policies and programmes that are conducive to realizing the population's right to adequate food. The full text of the "Voluntary Guidelines" is also included. Development practitioners and governments, development agencies, civil society and academia concerned with realizing the right to food should find the publication a valuable aid to decision-making.