Special Rapporteur on the right to food

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Introduction

Overview of the mandate

International standards

Individual complaints

Special Rapporteur on the right to food

Issues in focus

In his first report (E/CN.4/2001/53) the Special Rapporteur identified seven major economic obstacles that hinder or prevent the realization of the right to food:

(a) Problems linked to developments in world trade, particularly the agricultural policies of developed countries, as sanctioned by the World Trade Organization (WTO), which perpetuate malnutrition and hunger in the South;

(b) External-debt servicing and its impact on food security, including the structural adjustment programmes of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which consistently aggravate undernourishment and malnutrition in debtor countries;

(c) Developments in biotechnology, including genetically modified plants, ownership of international patents by agribusinesses from the North and worldwide protection of those patents, hampering access to food and the availability of food;

(d) Wars and their destructive impact on food security;

(e) Corruption;

(f) Access to land and credit;

(g) Discrimination against women and its impact on the realization of the right to food.
These and other themes have been subsequently explored in his successive reports.

In addition during the course of his mandate and through his various reports, the Special Rapporteur has elaborated on the definition of the right to food and the obligations of States.

Reports to the Human Rights Council
Year	Content of reports	Document symbol
2008	RECENT DEVELOPMENTS WITH RESPECT TO THE RIGHT TO FOOD THE RIGHT TO FOOD IN INTERNATIONAL LAW WHERE THE PROBLEMS ARE - Refugees from hunger - New powerful non-State actors: transnational corporations - Desertification - Biofuels WHERE IS HOPE? - The Right to Food Guidelines - The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights	A/HRC/7/5
2007	POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS IN REALIZING THE RIGHT TO FOOD SITUATIONS OF SERIOUS CONCERN CHILDREN AND THEIR HUMAN RIGHT TO FOOD FLEEING FROM HUNGER - THE WORLD’S HUNGER REFUGEES	A/HRC/4/30
Reports to the Commission on Human Rights
Year	Content of reports	Document symbol
2006	SITUATION OF SPECIAL CONCERN: FAMINE IN NIGER DEFINING THE RIGHT TO FOOD IN AN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION	E/CN.4/2006/44
2005	SITUATIONS OF SPECIAL CONCERN INITIATIVES FOR PROGRESS INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES ON THE RIGHT TO FOOD EXTRATERRITORIAL OBLIGATIONS OF STATES TO THE RIGHT TO FOOD	E/CN.4/2005/47
2004	TRADE AND FOOD SECURITY: THE FAILURE AT CANCÚN FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND THE RIGHT TO FOO TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND THE RIGHT TO FOOD	E/CN.4/2004/10
2003	INTERNATIONAL GUIDELINES ON THE RIGHT TO FOOD WATER AND THE RIGHT TO FOOD	E/CN.4/2003/54
2002	JUSTICIABILITY OF THE RIGHT TO FOOD HUMANITARIAN LAW AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE	E/CN.4/2002/58
2001	DEFINITION AND HISTORY OF THE RIGHT TO FOOD INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS DOMESTIC LEGISLATION ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL OBSTACLES	E/CN.4/2001/53
Reports to the General Assembly
Year	Content of reports	Document symbol
2007	Recent developments with respect to the right of food The impact of biofuels on the right to food Protection gaps for people fleeing from hunger	A/62/289
2005	Situation of special concern: famine in Niger The right to food of indigenous peoples The responsibilities of international organizations concerning the right to food	A/60/350
2004	Situations of special concern An update on the “voluntary guidelines” on the right to adequate food The right to adequate food and fishing livelihoods	A/59/385
2003	Gender and the right to food Transnational corporations and the right to food Positive developments in promoting the right to food	A/58/330
2002	The World Food Summit : Five years later Access to land, agrarian reform and the right to food	A/57/356
2001	Definition of the right to food The right to food in armed conflict Drinking water and the right to food International trade and the right to food Concrete steps for national legislation Concrete steps for local food security	A/56/210

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