NEWS RELEASE - “Time to translate nutrition targets into action” – UN expert on the=?UT

“Time to translate nutrition targets into action” – UN expert on the right to food

NEW YORK (25 October 2016) – The international community is failing to eradicate malnutrition in all its forms, and the world is not on track to reach globally agreed nutrition targets, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Hilal Elver, told the UN General Assembly today in New York.

“The right to adequate food extends far beyond ensuring the minimum requirements needed for survival, and must ensure access to food that is nutritionally adequate,” Ms. Elver said, stressing that nearly 800 million people remain chronically undernourished, more than 2 billion suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, and another 600 million are obese.  

In her third report* to the main UN body, the expert warned that many countries are now not only confronted with under-nutrition, but also rising rates of obesity in the face of the global nutrition transition.

“Access to nutritious food is often a key indicator of socioeconomic inequality.

Poverty may not only be a driver of under-nutrition, but also of micro-nutrient deficiency and obesity,” the expert said. “Unable to afford healthier food options, people on low incomes may essentially be forced to choose between economic viability and nutrition.”

“Unhealthy eating habits are on the rise, which are one of the major causes of Non-Communicable Diseases and early mortality,” Ms. Elver warned. “Today’s food systems are dominated by industrial food production and processing, and coupled with trade liberalization and foreign direct investment, large food corporations are flooding the global market with nutrient poor yet energy-dense foods that are relatively inexpensive.”

The Special Rapporteur expressed concern at aggressive marketing strategies to promote sales of junk foods and unhealthy beverages, especially when they target children and untapped markets in developing nations.

“While nutrition support in the past was often considered charitable action, it is increasingly recognized as a result of a failure to protect the right to adequate food,” the human rights expert said.

“Within the human rights framework, States are obliged to ensure effective measures to regulate the food industry, ensure that nutrition policymaking spaces are free from private sector influence, and implement comprehensive policies that combat malnutrition in all its forms and create healthy eating environments,” she noted.

The Special Rapporteur called on all governments to ensure meaningful change, by moving global food systems away from industrial food systems towards more sustainable systems based on ecological balance and agro-ecology.

“Let us use the Decade of Action on Nutrition, proclaimed in April this year, to its full potential. The first step is to recognize nutrition as an essential component of the human right to adequate food, reinforced by monitoring, accountability and transparency mechanisms,” Ms. Elver concluded.

(*) Check the Special Rapporteur’s full report:  http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A%2F71%2F282&Submit=Search&Lang=E

ENDS

Ms. Hilal Elver (Turkey) was appointed Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food by the Human Rights Council in 2014. She is a Research Professor, and global distinguished fellow at the University of California, Law School Resnick Food Law and Policy Center. She has a law degree, a Ph.D. from the University of Ankara Law School, and SJD from the UCLA Law School. She started her teaching career at the University of Ankara Faculty of Law. Learn more: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Food/Pages/FoodIndex.aspx

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms. Special Procedures mandate-holders are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. They are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organization. They serve in their individual capacity and do not receive a salary for their work.

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