CFS 43 needs to reassure independence

Today, the 43rd session of the CFS will kick off and hold a week of discussions around international food security and nutrition policies. Accredited as the foremost international policy making space on the issue, the CFS has demonstrated that it can make a difference, as echoed by the Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) report on the use of the Tenure Guidelines (TGs). Indeed, in countries such as Colombia, Mali, Myanmar and Argentina, the TGs have critically opened up the space for social movements and other CSOs to claim the right to land and other natural resources.

The CFS should also be the primary body for coherent policy making on the human right to food and nutrition (RtFN) and related rights. However, the attempt by some countries to disregard human rights as the foundation of food and nutrition policy making has skyrocketed over the last years. By the same token, due to lingering public underfunding, the CFS is increasingly being influenced by the private sector. This poses a risk for the integrity of the CFS and its ability to act in line with its mandate over other interests.

That has been the experience of CSOs. As FIAN International’s Secretary General Sofia Monsalve stresses, despite preliminary and encouraging experiences in using the CFS Tenure Guidelines, CSOs “now need to fight for tooth and nail in every policy discussion”. “Rather than continuing to work together to promote progressive and innovative policy making that meets the needs of those most affected by malnutrition and hunger, CSOs are fighting to retain space in policy making and become watchdogs for regression,” Monsalve warns.

On this note, a number of issues are of special concern for civil society, namely:

Monitoring

Holding governments accountable for their legal human rights obligations, as well as ensuring that the commitments in international policy fora are implemented, has been a consistent challenge at all levels of government, and is one of the fundamental challenges in governance across many sectors.

The RtFN standards created in the framework of the UN Human Rights System and the standards built by previous CFS processes are interconnected and shape an integral legal framework for the implementation of RtFN. Within this context, the new terms of reference for monitoring that will be adopted at the upcoming session are situated in a way that seek to increase coherence across processes, and will provide new elements to enrich existing monitoring efforts at national and regional levels.

From the perspective of FIAN International, this integrated proposal would support the groups most affected by violations of RtFN to demand accountability more effectively. It is imperative that its application is not hindered.

Multistakeholderism

The existence of multi-stakeholder spaces does not automatically generate an inclusive, equitable, transparent and accountable process, nor does it automatically produce outcomes geared towards human rights-based policy.  States have the special obligation of being duty bearers with regard to human rights, with the obligation to protect, respect and fulfill the RtFN.

Decision-making must be reserved for States alone, since they are mandated by the people to comply with these obligations and can be made accountable by the people for non-compliance.

Mosalve concludes by recalling that the CFS is a unique public space that has the ability and mandate to design human rights-based policies on food security and nutrition. “Small-scale food producers and the groups most affected by food insecurity and malnutrition must remain center stage in any decision-making at the CFS,” she concludes.

FIAN International will participate in the discussions and negotiations at the CFS and will report live via @FIANista on Twitter.

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