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	Pursuit of Profit and Corporate Power undermine Workers’ Assembly and Association Rights by Maina Kiai Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association   October 2016   People’s ability to exercise their assembly and association rights in the workplace is deteriorating drastically worldwide, leading to worsened labour conditions, weaker social protections and increased inequalities, United Nation expert Maina Kiai told the UN General Assembly.   Speaking during the presentation of his final report to the main UN body, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association highlighted unyielding pursuit of profits, increasing corporate power and the changing nature of employment relationships as leading causes of this decline.   “Assembly and association rights in the workplace continue to be undermined for a large proportion of workers, mainly because of an economic world order that relentlessly pursues ever-increasing growth and profit at all costs,” Mr. Kiai stated.   “Meanwhile,” he added, “the growing power and geographic reach of large corporations has meant that States are increasingly unwilling or unable to regulate these business entities and their attempts to place profits ahead of the rights and dignity of workers.”   The independent expert warned that, without the checks and balances provided by robust protection for workers’ rights, workers are inevitably seeing a decline in working conditions, social protections, and labour relations. He underscored that assembly and association rights form the foundation for labour’s traditional tools for asserting rights, including unions, strikes and collective bargaining.   The report paints a grim picture and cites dozens of examples of violations of worker’s assembly and association rights in more than 50 countries, ranging from union busting to legislative gaps to assassinations of union leaders.   The UN expert highlighted as an example the situation of migrant workers in the Middle East kafala system and the United States H2 visa program. Employers in both systems have near total control over guest workers, which is “a significant deterrent to their free exercise of assembly and association rights,” Mr. Kiai said.   The expert also referred to the situation of women, supply chain workers, migrants, informal workers and domestic workers, whom he said have been hit particularly hard by the deterioration of assembly and association rights.   The Special Rapporteur emphasised that the primary burden for protecting and promoting assembly and association rights falls upon States, who must take positive measures to do this.   “I have heard too often of States working to undermine these rights, or purporting to remain ‘neutral’ or ‘hands-off’ in the struggle by workers to claim their rights,” Mr. Kiai said. “Let me be clear: Under international human rights law, States have a positive obligation to facilitate the enjoyment of all rights, including the right of association for the purposes of joining trades unions. There can be no neutral position in this regard.”   The Special Rapporteur said that fresh approaches were needed in order to enable all workers to fully enjoy their rights.   “The old ways of defending workers’ rights are no longer working,” he said. “Our world and its globalized economy are changing at a lightning pace, and it is critical that the tools we use to protect to labour rights adapt just as quickly.”   “Labour rights are human rights. It is time for states and the human rights community to place labour rights at the core of their work,” he concluded.   * Access the report via the link below. Visit the related web page
	Food is the most basic human right by UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)   16 October 2016   To mark World Food Day 2016, the United Nations is highlighting the close links between climate change, sustainable agriculture, and food and nutrition security, with the message: “The climate is changing. Food and agriculture must, too.”   “As the global population expands, we will need to satisfy an increasing demand for food,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.   “Yet, around the world, record-breaking temperatures, rising sea levels and more frequent and severe droughts and floods caused by climate change are already affecting ecosystems, agriculture and society''s ability to produce the food we need”.   Mr. Ban pointed out that the most vulnerable people are world''s poorest, 70 per cent of whom depend on subsistence farming, fishing or pastoralism for income and food.   “Without concerted action, millions more people could fall into poverty and hunger, threatening to reverse hard-won gains and placing in jeopardy our ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he emphasized.   The UN chief, highlighted that agriculture and food systems must become more resilient, productive, inclusive and sustainable.   “To bolster food security in a changing climate countries must address food and agriculture in their climate action plans and invest more in rural development.”   Targeted investments in these sectors will build resilience and increase the incomes and productivity of small farmers – lifting millions from poverty.   “They will help to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and safeguard the health and well-being of ecosystems and all people who depend on them, underscored Mr. Ban.   Next month, the Paris Agreement on climate change will enter into force – providing a much-needed boost to global efforts to reduce global greenhouse-gas emissions, limit temperature rise and promote climate-compatible sustainable agriculture.   “On this World Food Day, I urge all Governments and their partners to take a holistic, collaborative and integrated approach to climate change, food security and equitable social and economic development,” stressed Mr. Ban.   “The well-being of this generation and those to come depends on the actions we take now. Only by working in partnership will we achieve a world of zero hunger and free from poverty, where all people can live in peace, prosperity and dignity”.   The Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Ertharin Cousin said that climate change was already stretching the international humanitarian system financially and operationally, “so moving beyond disaster relief to managing risk is an urgent task for all of us. Climate change is not waiting, neither can we."   Kanayo Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) underlined the need to bolster rural smallholder producers against the impacts of climate change: http://bit.ly/2djhRBr   “Food is the most basic human right”, by José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)   Food is the most basic human right yet nearly 800 million people still suffer from hunger in the world.   Without food security and adequate nutrition for all, sustainable development simply cannot be achieved.   This is why the 2030 Agenda calls for the eradication of hunger and all forms of malnutrition, as well as the promotion of sustainable agriculture.   But these objectives are clearly at risk, as climate change advances.   Higher temperatures and erratic weather patterns are already undermining the health of soils, forests and oceans on which agricultural sectors and food security depend.   We have seen an increase of pest and disease outbreaks everywhere.   Droughts and floods are more frequent and intense. We have seen first-hand their terrible impacts in the past months, as El Niño hit Africa, Asia and other parts such as the Dry Corridor of Central America.   We have also just witnessed the extensive damage caused by hurricane Matthew in Haiti.   Natural disasters and extreme weather events like this are more likely to happen and yet more difficult to predict.   As usual, the poorest and the hungry suffer the most.   The vast majority of them are small holders and family farmers that live in rural areas of developing countries.   They are the least equipped to deal with the threats. Even under normal circumstances, these people barely manage to survive.   Reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly indicate that the impacts on agriculture will be felt more in areas with marginal production.   The Paris Agreement on Climate Change calls for action in this regard. It recognizes the fundamental priority of safeguarding food security and ending hunger, and the particular vulnerabilities of food production systems to the adverse impacts of climate change.   World Food Day 2016 highlights that the climate is changing, and food and agriculture must change too.   FAO’s vision is that climate change, extreme poverty and hunger must be addressed together. And sustainable agriculture is key to doing so.   Agricultural activities that are resilient and result in the sustainable management of natural resources can deliver the transformative change we so urgently need.   We cannot avoid a drought from happening, but we can avoid a drought resulting in famine. We can build cisterns, reduce the use of water, prevent waste and plant drought-resistant crops.   Water management is today one of the main challenges for sustainable agriculture, and will be even more so in the future.   Adaptation to climate change is fundamental. Farmers, especially poor small holders and family farmers, need to adjust their production systems and practices to meet the new challenging conditions. To meet what we call the “new normal”.   This requires much better access to appropriate technologies, knowledge, markets, information and investments.   We need to promote innovation and explore all approaches and techniques available, such as agroecology.   Social protection programmes are also essential. They boost local food demand and reduce the vulnerability of poor rural people to shocks and price volatility.   Increasing productivity will be important to feed a growing population expected to reach more than 9 billion people in 2050. But it is also important to reduce food loss and waste and promote sustainable food systems.   Let’s not forget that nowadays we produce enough food to feed the current global population, but hundreds of millions of tons of food are either lost or wasted every year.   This means that natural resources have been depleted in vain. And this is unacceptable.   When we talk about building resilience in agriculture, climate change adaptation and mitigation are two sides of the same coin.   In fact, as we adapt, based on environmentally friendly techniques such as climate smart agriculture, we are also mitigating the impacts of climate change. And vice-versa.   Agriculture accounts today for around 20 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. The sector presents great potential for limiting the rise of global average temperature as determined by the Paris Agreement.   Countries are recognizing this. Out of the 188 Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, 94 percent of them included agriculture in their mitigation and adaptation plans. FAO is already supporting countries to implement their pledges.   We cannot allow the impacts of climate change to overshadow our vision of a world free of hunger and malnutrition, where food and agriculture contribute to improving the living standards of all, especially the poorest. No one can be left behind. http://bit.ly/2em4QV4   This year, The State of Food and Agriculture our flagship publication, is devoted to the theme “Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security”: http://bit.ly/2egGuA2   Oct 2016   Climate change could drive 122 million more people into extreme poverty by 2030. (Guardian News, agencies)   Climate change is “a major and growing threat to global food security”, highlights a new report, warning that it could increase the global population living in extreme poverty by up to 122 million by 2030, with farming communities in sub-Saharan Africa among the hardest hit.   The 2016 State of Food and Agriculture report, published by the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, calls for “deep transformations in agriculture and food systems” and for the world’s half-billion small-scale farms to receive particular support.   The report warns that without “widespread adoption of sustainable land, water, fisheries and forestry practices, global poverty cannot be eradicated”.   It adds that action must also be taken to reduce farming’s own contributions to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.   The 194-page report looks at the future of farming and food security under different climate change scenarios. It also looks at possible responses to what it calls “an unprecedented double challenge” to eradicate hunger and poverty and stabilise the global climate.   There is, it says, “no doubt that climate change will affect the agriculture sectors and food security and that its negative impact will become more severe as it accelerates. In some particularly vulnerable places, such as small islands or in areas affected by large-scale extreme weather and climate events, the impact could be catastrophic.”   In a best-case scenario, slow-moving climate change would allow farming to adapt through relatively simple techniques, at least in the near future. But it warns that more abrupt changes would make adequate adaptation almost impossible.   Possible consequences include major declines in crop yields and increasingly high and volatile food prices, it says. “In the longer run, unless measures are put in place to halt and reverse climate change, food production could become impossible in large areas of the world.”   The report cites diversifying crop production, better integration of farming with the natural habitat, agroecology and “sustainable intensification” as strategies to help small-scale farmers adapt to a warming world.   It says some current policies, including subsidies for inputs such as synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, could hinder the adoption of more sustainable techniques.   “Social protection programmes will need to play an important role – in helping smallholders better manage risk, reducing vulnerability to food price volatility, and enhancing the employment prospects of rural people who leave the land,” it adds.   The report comes as delegates arrive in Rome for the 43rd Committee on World Food Security meetings. FAO’s director general, José Graziano da Silva, warned: “Higher temperatures and erratic weather patterns are already undermining the health of soils, forests and oceans on which agricultural sectors and food security depend. We have seen an increase of pest and disease outbreaks everywhere.”   In a special message, Pope Francis said the world should draw on “the wisdom of rural communities” and “a style of life that can help defend us from the logic of consumerism and production at any cost, a logic that is aimed solely at the increase in profit”.   Technologies including genetic modification “may give excellent results in the laboratory, may be advantageous for some, but have ruinous effects for others”, he argued.   Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the World Food Programme, said: “Climate change is already stretching the international humanitarian system, more than 80% of the world’s hungry live in areas prone to natural disasters and environmental degradation. Climate change is not waiting – neither can we.”   Until 2030, says the FAO report, climate change impacts will produce both gains and losses, with crop yields increasing in colder places, for example. After 2030, negative impacts could threaten farming and food systems in every region of the world.   In September 2015, UN member states agreed to eradicate extreme poverty and end hunger by 2030 as part of the sustainable development goals.   In December, world leaders signed the Paris agreement, which sets a framework for national action and international cooperation on climate change.   The FAO report argues that now is the time for these political commitments to be put into action.   It notes that agriculture and related land use alone accounts for at least one-fifth of global greenhouse-gas emissions – and that this must also be addressed.   Globally, about one-third of all food produced is also lost or wasted. Reducing this figure could limit farming’s impact on natural resources and emissions, it says.   ‘Business as usual’ is not an option,'' stressed Graziano da Silva in a foreword to the report. “Agriculture has always been the interface between natural resources and human activity. Today it holds the key to solving the two greatest challenges facing humanity: eradicating poverty, and maintaining the stable climatic corridor in which civilisation can thrive.”   World Food Day 2016: Promises Don’t Feed Hungry People says Action against Hunger: http://bit.ly/2dXgck9 Visit the related web page
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