Food shortages a ‘silent tsunami’
May 2007: Described as a "massive violation" of human rights by the new UN food envoy, the rising cost of food and chronic food shortages are now directly threatening the lives of more than 850 million people.
Described as a "massive violation" of human rights by the new UN food envoy, the rising cost of food and chronic food shortages are now directly threatening the lives of more than 850 million people.
In addition, two billion people – or a third of the world’s population – suffer from malnutrition, which the World Health Organisation says can cause life-long health problems for children.
Protests, strikes and riots have erupted in 40 countries around the world after dramatic rises in the prices of wheat, rice, corn, oils and other essential foods in the last year.
People in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have been most strongly affected by the food price spikes that economists have linked to factors including drought, high fuel and fertiliser costs, the use of crops for biofuels, and commodity speculation.
Olivier De Schutter, the UN's food envoy, has labelled the situation a "silent tsunami" and called for a freeze on new investment in biofuels and the abandonment of US and European Union targets on biofuel use.
Practical steps to address the both the immediate needs and the structural causes of the food crisis were discussed at a special session of the UN Human Rights Council, held on 22 May.
“The world can produce enough food to feed twice the entire global population, yet millions go to bed hungry every night … In a world overflowing with food, hunger is not inevitable. It is a violation of human rights,” said the three principal sponsors of the meeting - Cuba, Egypt and Pakistan - in a statement.
Speakers at the special session emphasised the need for coordinated action by the international community, guided by the obligations of all States under international law to respect the right to adequate food.
Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise, warned that a failure to respond to the global food crisis in a comprehensive manner that encompasses the rights of marginalised members of societies could trigger a "domino effect" that would exacerbate the situation.
She reminded government representatives that "states, individually and collectively, have a legal obligation under human rights law to remedy such situations and to provide sustainable access to food without discrimination” and also noted that the private sector had a responsibility to act in a manner that does not harm the enjoyment of human rights.
Read the full speech presented by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In the Asia Pacific region
A number of national human rights institutions in the Asia Pacific region, including the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC), are working with government and civil society organisations to put in place programs to monitor food availability and counter malnutrition and starvation.
According the Indian NHRC, which has recommended the establishment of ‘Watch Committees’, it is imperative that these issues be addressed using a ‘rights-based’ approach rather than from the perspective of ‘welfare’.
In addition, the APF has recently funded a respected Indian research institute, the Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group, to undertake a research project in West Bengal in relation to food entitlement and food availability.
The project will assess government policies and programs, as well as explore the role of the NHRC and West Bengal's State Human Rights Commission in ensuring the right to food.
The NHRC supports this research initiative and it is expected the
project report will be published in February 2009.
