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	Special UN Session on the Right to Food by International Federation for Human Rights   22/05/2008   The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) welcomes the present special session of the UN Human Rights Council convened at the request of the new UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to food. This first special session on a thematic issue will increase the recognition of the equal value and interdependence of economic, social and cultural rights and of civil and political rights.   Most importantly, we hope that this session will be central to bringing coordinated solutions to the unprecedented current food crisis in line with international human rights law, and in particular with the right to adequate food.   The number of people suffering from hunger and malnutrition has continued to grow in the past decades in spite of the commitment of States at the UN Millennium Summit to cut by half the proportion of people suffering from extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 as a primary objective.   The soaring food prices, largely due to the rise of global demand of agricultural products, the increase of oil prices, uncontrolled speculation over agricultural raw material, climate factors and the diversion of land for biofuels, have further aggravated the situation.   FIDH is particularly worried about poor segments of the population living in net food importing countries which are directly and immediately affected by the rise of food prices. It is the poorest, the most vulnerable, those who spend most of their income for purchasing food that are the first victims of the crisis, and in particular small scale farmers, landless peasants and the urban poor. Food riots have broken up in several countries in Africa, in the Caribbean, but also in Asia. In many places, those who go hungry and already suffer from a wide range of human rights violations have been repressed.   This situation, exacerbated by soaring food prices, is the result of decades of misguided international policies. FIDH associates itself with the statement of several NGOs: The world does not need more of the same medicine.   Indeed, structural adjustment programs under the auspices of the IMF and the World Bank and trade liberalisation in agriculture have seriously restrained the ability of States to meet their domestic obligations related to the human right to food: tariffs on food imports have been cut, leaving local producers at the mercy of cheap products they cannot compete with on the local market, and government support to agriculture in developing countries has been dismantled, leaving small scale farmers without support, and leading to the decline of food production for the local market in many developing countries.   The current Doha Round and other trade liberalisation processes will further harm the food security of many developing countries if no adequate safeguard mechanisms are established and if the need for a different set of rules for international trade in agriculture is not recognized.   The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights requires that States Parties - take steps individually, and through international cooperation - in order to achieve the realization of human rights.   At the minimum, this means that States should refrain from adopting national and international policies and practices that undermine the right to adequate food in third countries.   Further, non-state actors, in particular multinational corporations in the agro-business sector, should be recalled of their responsibility to respect human rights.   Speculation on food prices should be strictly controlled by the relevant national and international financial institutions.   We hope that the current session will bring recognition that the right to food is an essential component to solve the current global food crisis. The Right to adequate food should be a guiding principle for States and the international community in developing long term strategies.   FIDH calls on the Member States of the Human Rights Council to:   Make sure all measures taken as a matter of urgency to assist the populations in need conform to the right to adequate food; in particular, food aid should be delivered in a way that does not negatively affect local food production;   Take all necessary measures to ensure the realization of the right to food, in particular through the adoption of national strategies and framework legislation on the right to food, and through international assistance and cooperation; in particular, industrialized countries should comply with their commitment to devote 0.7 % of their GDP to development assistance and cooperation, which will be required if agricultural production has to be promoted and supported in developing countries;   Make sure international policies, including trade liberalisation processes, do not harm but contribute to the realization of human rights and in particular of the right to adequate food; in particular, WTO trade rules in agriculture should allow for sufficient national policy flexibility for States to implement their right to food obligations;   WTO rules and policies that would be found to have a negative impact on the right to food should be immediately revised; Ensure that any coordinating mechanisms created to deal with the present food emergency situation have the active participation of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 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	Food Summit declares Regional Emergency by José Luis Machinea, José Adán Silva UN News / IPS Latin American   June 2008   Latin American, Caribbean nations must tackle effect of food crisis on poor, by José Luis Machinea.   Mitigating the impact of rising food and fuel prices on low-income groups must be a priority for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, a senior United Nations official has stressed at a regional meeting taking place in Santo Domingo.   As the 32nd session of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) got under way yesterday in the capital of the Dominican Republic, the body’s Executive Secretary outlined a number of issues that the region must address in light of a global situation characterized by economic deceleration, high inflation and rising oil and food prices.   José Luis Machinea said the first priority was to mitigate the impact of rising food and energy prices on low-income groups through subsidies, lower taxes and similar measures.   Also, more resources should be allocated – through special donations from developed countries – to agencies that can alleviate the situation in the poorest countries, he told delegates from nearly 40 countries.   Mr. Machinea stressed the need for cooperation between the public and private sectors, as well as broad agreements among all social and political actors to improve social cohesion and embark on a path toward sustained growth.   May 2008   Food Summit declares Regional Emergency, by José Adán Silva. (IPS)   The presidential summit on "Food for Life", held in Nicaragua, has ended with 16 Latin American countries agreeing to produce more food and sell it at low prices through strategic alliances, amid criticisms of free markets and capitalism.   The summit on regional food sovereignty and security was convened by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to debate the global crisis caused by food shortages and to seek regional solutions.   Presidents Manuel Zelaya of Honduras, Óscar Arias of Costa Rica, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Evo Morales of Bolivia and René Préval of Haiti attended the summit meeting on Wednesday. Delegations from El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, Belize, Panama, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Dominican Republic and Cuba also took part.   Ortega, as host, chaired the discussions, and during breaks between speakers he wasted no opportunity to condemn the "neoliberal policies imposed by the international financial institutions."   The presidents of Haiti, Bolivia, Ecuador and even Costa Rica joined Ortega in blaming the world"s most developed countries for the global food crisis.   According to statistics from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisations (FAO), over the last year the international price of maize increased by 31 percent, rice by 74 percent, vegetable oils 60 percent, dairy products 83 percent, soybeans 87 percent, and wheat 130 percent.   The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) warned in late April that "the steep and persistent rise in international food prices is hitting particularly hard on the poorest in Latin America and the Caribbean."   To illustrate, Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo said that in 2005, his government paid the equivalent of 250 dollars for a ton of imported rice in 2005, while "it now costs us 1,050 dollars - four times as much."   "The food crisis is exacerbated by the high price of oil, climate change, and farm subsidies in the United States and Europe," Lazo added.   Ecuadorean President Correa said that "the enormous difference about world poverty in the 21st century is that it is not due to shortages, but to unequal distribution" of resources.   Like the rest of the participants, Correa stressed the urgent need to step up agricultural production in Latin America and abandon food import policies which, he said, the international financial institutions recommended to developing countries in recent years with the backing of the United States. Morales declared his opposition to the use of food crops for making biofuels.   Mr Préval described the dire situation in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas. "What is happening in my country is a catastrophe.. Food shortages led to violent disturbances in April killing and injuring scores of people", said Préval.   Costa Rican President Arias, criticised the United States and European countries for failing to deal with the most important issues on the international agenda."   The United States has offered only one billion dollars in food aid to the world"s poorest countries, "the same amount they spend in half a week on the war in Iraq," Arias said.   The final statement, signed by all the countries at the summit except El Salvador and Costa Rica, declared a regional food "emergency" and urged the 63rd U.N. General Assembly to address the world food crisis when it meets in September.   It also called on Latin American and Caribbean governments to increase investment in agriculture, and suggested that private banks in the region invest up to 10 percent of their assets in agricultural development.   The leaders called for an action plan to boost local food production in the region and establish a system of "fair trade within and between the countries that results in fair prices for producers and consumers," and urged the international community to "significantly" boost cooperation to ease the crisis.
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