Liaison Newsletter > LIAISON Vol. 2, No. 1, January 1998 - Articles

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The "Right to Food" - Time for Action
by Jeff De Jong

Ottawa - December 10 marked the anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the kick-off to a year long series of events in 1998 that recognizes the 50th anniversary of that landmark achievement.

The anniversary should serve to remind the Canadian government that they have yet to realize the commitments they made to ensuring the most basic of human rights—the right to food—and to taking action that will effectively reverse the spiraling hunger situation in Canada and elsewhere.

A week before the anniversary date, discussion on the right to food was advanced further in a meeting of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, asked the Committee to better define the status of the ‘right to food’ within the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

During committee discussions, experts asserted the responsibility of the Committee to uphold the right to food and to force governments to develop a socio-economic model that the latter would apply and implement. The Committee also stressed the need for greater accountability in implementing such a right.

Canada, like many other countries, committed itself in 1976 to setting national welfare standards and establishing a basic right to food when they signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Canada then reconfirmed their commitment to a basic right to food by supporting the Global Plan of Action, a product the 1996 World Food Summit. Unfortunately, Canada’s action has been less forthcoming than its commitments.

Days before December 10, representatives from UNA-Canada’s Global Network on Food Security (GNFS) and their partners from the Canadian Association of Food Banks witnessed the submission of a national petition of 2600 signatures, which urged the Federal Government to restore these pledged commitments.

"When the Covenant was signed," observed David MacDonald, GNFS Chair, "there were no food banks in Canada. Now there are more than 900. Too many Canadians still perceive world hunger as a problem that concerns other countries. Few of them are aware of the degree to which it affects their own communities." A recently released hunger report, published by the Daily Bread Food Bank, registered the number of Canadian food bank users in March 1997 at 670,000 per month, up from 330,00 in March 1989.

In response to these growing numbers, civil society groups around the world are developing an International Code of Conduct on the Human Right to Food, that would better transform the Right to Food from words into actions. The Code, drafted by Food First Information and Action Network (FIAN) and the World Alliance for Nutrition and Human Rights, sets out responsibilities to respect, protect and fulfill the Right to Food.

Since 1995, UNA-Canada and partners of the GNFS have been gathering support for the ‘Right to Food’ and the Code of Conduct. In February, 1998, key partners of the GNFS will give support to a public workshop in California, organized by FIAN, to further advance the ‘right to food’ towards more international governmental support for the Code of Conduct.