OHCHR: a vocal human rights advocate in the Committee on World Food Security

OHCHR brings a human rights lens to technical discussions on food, allowing the structural causes of food insecurity and malnutrition to be fully assessed. Our analyses identify long-entrenched patterns of exclusion and discrimination, including gender discrimination, that have prevented the most vulnerable from claiming their rightful access to food.

OHCHR has been bringing this lens in instruments and awareness-raising events in the context of the Committee on World Food Security. In particular, we have contributed to policy instruments such as:

• Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security
• Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication
• Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security

New CFS Guidelines on food systems and nutrition

In 2017 the CFS decided to embark on a policy convergence process to align the food, agriculture and health sectors.

We have been at the forefront of the development of the Voluntary Guidelines for Food Systems and Nutrition to ensure they reflect and promote international human rights standards.

These guidelines are being presented to the Committee for endorsement in October 2020.

Draft one of the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition (VGFSyN) is available in all 6 UN languages on the FAO website.