11-05-03-WILPF-and-the-Right-to-Food-versie-3-97-final

							                         WILPF and the Right to Food

              Feeding humanity, not profit and privilege


Since its establishment in 1915 the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
(WILPF) has brought together women from around the world who are working for peace by
non-violent means and promoting political, economic and social justice for all.

This means:

       working on issues of peace, such as disarmament, conflict prevention, security and
        ending all forms of discrimination;
       studying the root causes of war;
       contributing to an international economic order founded on the needs of the people,
        not on profit and privilege.

As an international NGO WILPF supports and monitors the work of the United Nations and
has a consultative status with several UN agencies, among which the United Nations
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
This Committee oversees the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (1966). In this Treaty the Right to Food is recognized and legally
binding for all 151 countries that ratified it.

In view of the increasing importance and urgency and the lack of progress regarding this
vital aspect of Human Rights the Commission on Human Rights1 created the function of an
UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food (2000).
Poverty, hunger, inequality were already a focus. More recently the effects of climate
change, the environmental damage and the dwindling natural resources have a detrimental
effect on the effectuation of the Right to Food.
The risks of volatile prices for staple foods in the globalized economy, the regulations in
international trade agreements , and the financial speculation on food prices are now also a
major threat.

In the current economic system food is seen as just another commodity for trade and profit.
Ownership of land and patents are basic requirements for this industry, and are increasingly
in the hands of a small number of big multinational companies.
So for the realization of the Human Right to Food a radical shift of perspective regarding
food production, food consumption, trade and transport is needed.

1
    The Commission on Human Rights was replaced by the Human Rights Council on 15 March 2006
Fundamental is the acknowledgment of the social, cultural and economic significance of
food production and food consumption in human societies as well as the ‘deglobalization’ of
the financial and economic structures.

Scientific research, e.g. ‘Agriculture at a Crossroads’ (2008)2 and the Report by the Special
Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council (2010)3, shows the possibility of changing the
current practices into a more sustainable, localized, flexible agriculture, where farmers and
producers can earn ‘a living wage’, livestock is treated with respect and natural biological
diversity is celebrated.

Discussions in many NGOs and grass roots-organizations about such concepts as Food
Security, Food Sovereignty, Agro Ecology etc. have led to concrete proposals, policies and
actions. Declarations and statements about alternative principles for food production and
agricultural policies, e.g. the ‘European Food Declaration’ (2010)4, are being supported by a
diversity of organisations, signalling a broadly shared awareness in civil society of the
urgency of this issue.

We call on politicians and policymakers, to whom we have assigned the responsibility to take
decisions for the future in our name: no greenwashing, but a real change of direction!

To paraphrase the end of the WILPF-statement on Climate Security5:

‘Agribusiness as usual is not an option, in fact it’s suicidal.’



WILPF, Dutch Section, April 2011.




2
 Executive Summary of the Synthesis Report, International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and
Technology for Development. IAASTD Intergovernmental Plenary Johannesburg, South Africa, April 2008.
3
 Report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter. Human Rights Council,
Sixteenth session, 20 December 2010.
4
    http://www.europeanfooddeclaration.org/declaration/en
5
Wilpf issued statements on Climate Security (November 2008) and on The Right to Water (September 2009).