Information / programme
Every man, woman and child has the right to adequate food: enough food, nutritionally adequate, safe and culturally acceptable. Yet, over 800 million people are facing hunger today and many more are malnourished.
Food security policies and programmes over the last decades have brought progress, but not sufficient. Based on experiences with these policies and programs and rooted in the rich tradition of human rights, an alternative approach has gradually evolved: the Rights Based Approach to Food. Rather unlike traditional food security policies and programmes, this approach considers hungry and malnourished people as right-holders (instead of beneficiaries). Another distinctive feature of this approach is that governments are considered as primary duty-bearers (instead of policy maker or service provider). Finally, a rights-based approach explicitly targets governments to be held accountable for their (lack of) deeds.
At the end of 2004, an FAO intergovernmental working group formulated a set of Voluntary Guidelines “to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security”. Some 187 countries agreed with this set of guidelines. This agreement is very important, yet cannot be considered a full guarantee that hunger will be ended. Neither do the guidelines guarantee that governments will try to the maximum of their resources to address hunger and malnutrition. Many development oriented professionals working in governmental sectors, donor organizations, multilateral organizations, NGOs, universities and other educational institutes, struggle with the following questions:
- what does a rights-based approach imply for strategies and operations?
- what can be done to keep governments accountable if the FAO guidelines are voluntary?
- how can a rights-based approach effectively contribute to ending hunger?
- how to monitor progress of interventions meant to reduce hunger?
This symposium aims to discuss the above mentioned questions, enhance networking and promote agenda setting on the translation of the rights-based approach to food into strategy formulation, planning of activities, implementation and monitoring of development oriented work.
Foreseen participants of the symposium are professionals working in development oriented NGOs, governmental sectors, university staff and students, engaged in food security related sector.
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Programme
Chairperson: Prof. Bas de Gaay Fortman (Study and Information Centre Human Rights, University of Utrecht)
Venue: WICC (Wageningen International Conference Centre), Lawickse Allee, 6701AN Wageningen, Kleine Veerzaal
9.30-10.00 Coffee/tea on arrival
10.00-10.15 Opening
Drs. Marcel Vernooij
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
10.15-11.00 From Food Security to the Right to Food.
Dr Wenche Barth Eide
Associate professor Institute for Nutrition Research, University of Oslo, Norway; Co-director International Project on the Right to Food in Development
11.00-11.45 The Voluntary Guidelines: negotiating, implementing and monitoring.
Julian Thomas, Coordinator ad hoc unit, Right to Food, FAO, Rome
11.45-12.15 Questions and remarks
12.30-13.30 Lunch
13.30-15.30 Workshops
I. The Right to Food: what role can civil society play?
Michael Windfuhr, Director FoodFirst Information and Action Network; FIAN, Heidelberg
II. Implementing the Voluntary Guidelines: challenges and opportunities?
Julian Thomas, Coordinator, Right to Food Unit, FAO, Rome
III. From the Right to Food to being food secure: how can NGO’s operate?
Ricardo Gomez, Country Director Plan Guatemala
15.30-16.00 Tea break
16.00-16.30 Plenary session
16.30-17.30 Drinks