| |
Contributions from
the Column
Facts and trends
The FAO adopts guidelines
The reality of development aid
IMF evaluation of capital market liberalisation
Kenya produces generic AIDS drugs
UN Report: fewer conflicts in Africa
Computers for the poor
“In Afghanistan, donors must do more
to support the private sector”
Debt relief stays on the agenda
11/2004
|
|
[ The right to food ]
The FAO adopts guidelines
After two years of negotiations, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has put together voluntary guidelines for the realisation of the right to food. The 19 guidelines are intended to give states guidance on how to gear their policies more stringently towards food security. Non-governmental organisations consider the guidelines to be a practical framework for good government action in the fight against hunger, but they criticise the diplomatic language of the text, which often remains vague.
Jochen Donner of German Agro Action, a member of the German delegation , says it is an “important normative step for the international community on the path to a world without hunger.” The voluntary guidelines are an instrument which can now be adopted by civil society groups throughout the world, in order to show governments their responsibility. Michael Windfuhr, director of the human rights organisation FIAN, identifies an important mechanism for human rights work. “The guidelines challenge one of the main reasons for hunger: the lacking political will.” The FAO now has the mandate to start human rights-oriented work; the guidelines allow for any government that does not take steps against hunger to be denounced.
According to Renate Künast, German Federal Minister for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture, the FAO committee has broken new ground. Her ministry had guided the negotiations in terms of content and had given financial support. The 2002 World Food Summit had given the mandate to create the guidelines and to involve the stakeholders. Initially, the negotiations had been marked by widely differing viewpoints. For example, civil society representatives pushed long and hard for a code of conduct on the right to food, but this proved to be unviable. However, a worldwide alliance of civil society groups managed to leave their mark on many items on the agenda. The guidelines call for involving the population in the fight against poverty and hunger and strengthening women’s land rights; they propose state intervention where markets fail and encourage land reforms. (orb)
|
