First visit to China by UN Special Rapporteur on right to food

GENEVA (13 December 2010) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, will conduct an official mission to the People’s Republic of China from 15 to 23 December 2010. This is the first visit to the country by an independent expert designated by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the right to food.

“China has made important strides in improving overall living standards and food security for its population, and the mission provides an opportunity to learn from these efforts and to identify human rights based measures to address remaining challenges,” said Mr. De Schutter.

“I will give particular attention to efforts to improve the situation of those who remains vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition as well as to challenges related to improving the livelihoods of rural communities, rural-urban migration, and degradation of agricultural land and the depletion of water resources in the context of climate change,” explained the Special Rapporteur, who is visiting the country at the invitation of the Government.

During his nine-day mission, Mr. De Schutter will meet with Government officials and experts as well as with representatives of the United Nations System and civil society organizations.

The Special Rapporteur will present his preliminary observations on the mission at a press conference at 10:30 AM on 23 December 2010 at the China Country Office of the United Nations Development Programme, 2 Liangmahe Nanlu, Beijing.

Olivier De Schutter was appointed the Special Rapporteur on the right to food in May 2008 by the United Nations Human Rights Council. He is independent from any government or organization.

Learn more about the mandate and work of the Special Rapporteur: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/food/index.htm and http://www.srfood.org

OHCHR Country Page – China: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/CNIndex.aspx

For more information and press inquiries, please contact:
Geneva – Ulrik Halsteen or Yoonie Kim (Tel: +41 79 201 0119 / +41 22 91 79 643 / email: uhalsteen@ohchr.org / ykim@ohchr.org)
Beijing – Ms. Wei Zhang (Tel: +8610 853 20715 / email: wei.zhang@undp.org.