Issue: NUTRITION, HEALTH & FOOD SYSTEMS

Brazilian Supreme Court says school meals not an obligation

Posted on by fredsaxo

Although public schools remain closed in the face of COVID, the State of Rio de Janeiro’s government has been judicially obliged to guarantee school meals for around 1.5 million schoolchildren who are enrolled in public schools.  Rio de Janeiro’s governor however, questioned this obligation last August, requesting the Brazilian Supreme Court to overrule it. Despite public outcry, the Supreme Court’s Justice Dias Toffoli has accepted the complaint and suspended the government’s obligation. 

In his decision, Justice Toffoli argues that the finances of the state should not be overburdened with the maintenance of the distribution of school meals to all schoolchildren during the pandemic, and highlighted that it is not task of the Judiciary to intervene in the definition of such public policies. This misleading interpretation sets a dangerous precedent for the realization of the right to food and nutrition, not only in Brazil, but also across the world.

“The Brazilian Supreme Court’s decision is a blatant attack on the most basic right of these schoolchildren: the right to be free from hunger! Justice Toffoli has miscalculated, falsely prioritizing the state’s budget over children’s right to food, which should be a priority for public authorities – especially during a pandemic”, comments Felipe Bley Folly, Justiciability Coordinator at FIAN International.

In an open letter spearheaded by the Brazilian Forum for Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security (FBSSAN), FIAN International, FIAN Brazil, DHESCA Brasil, National Campaign for the Right to Education, and the Public Defender’s Office, and supported by 130 organizations from more than 20 countries,  the signatories urge Toffoli to revoke his decision.

“In his decision, the Justice regrettably disregards the serious consequences of the absence of school meals in the integral development of schoolchildren from public schools in Rio de Janeiro – and in all regions across the country. In many cases, this is the only substantial meal of the day for them. International solidarity is crucial in condemning and giving visibility to such injustice”, highlights Mariana Santarelli, member of FBSSAN and Rapporteur on Human Rights from the ESCR Platform in Brazil.

As part of civil society’s mobilization, a public hearing is taking place on October 1 at 9pm (CEST), with the participation of representatives of students’ organizations, right to food and food sovereignty movements, members of the Public Ministry and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Mr. Michael Fakhri.

“The Brazilian Supreme Court must take the right to food seriously and oblige the Brazilian state to comply with its national and international human rights duties. Schoolchildren demand dignified treatment and adequate school meals, assuring that 30% of food purchases come from family farming, as provided by Brazilian law”, concludes Valeria Burity, Secretary-General of FIAN Brazil. 

Watch the public hearing with interpretation into English: youtube.com/user/FIANInt 
Watch the public hearing in Portuguese: facebook.com/fbssan/  
Read the fact sheet about the case.
 

When the SUN casts a shadow

Posted on by fredsaxo

In the past two decades ‘multi-stakeholder’ partnerships and platforms have flourished and the private sector, in particular transnational corporations and philanthropies such as the Gates Foundation, are now considered ‘key stakeholders’ in public affairs. How does this emerging inclination towards ‘multi-stakeholder’ models influence public policy spaces and the framing of public agendas? What are the implications for UN agencies and governments seeking to regulate in the public interest, and for people’s ability to claim their legitimate rights? 

The new research study “When the SUN casts a shadow” by FIAN International, IBFAN and SID examines the specific case of Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) – a multi-stakeholder initiative founded in 2010, whose stated mission is “to end malnutrition in all its forms”. The findings of the study suggest that rather than making meaningful changes to the lives of those most affected by hunger and malnutrition, SUN may actually worsen their situation of vulnerability and marginalization while creating additional human rights risks.  

SUN encourages companies to join the struggle against malnutrition as a ‘smart investment’. The 23 transnational members of the SUN Business Network include companies such as Mars, PepsiCo, DSM, Ajinomoto, Kellogg’s, and Cargill, many of which are leading manufacturers of ultra-processed foods and snacks. SUN’s benign image assists their top strategic priorities which are to maximize profits and in the process change traditional food patterns and cultures in lower and middle-income countries.

 Commenting on the publication, Stefano Prato, Managing Director of SID, says:

“We know that many governments and civil society organisations have joined SUN in good faith for the right reasons: to end the scourge of malnutrition. None of us are challenging this purpose. We just hope this study will highlight the risks inherent in SUN’s structure and approach that so often go unnoticed.”  

For the first time, using the right to adequate food and nutrition (RtAFN) legal framework, the study analyzes both SUN’s functioning at global level, as well as its influence and impacts at country level. Findings are based on primary data collected in Uganda, Guatemala and India, in addition to a comprehensive review of secondary sources.

According to the study, SUN: 

  • promotes nutrition approaches that favor short-term medicalized and technical solutions;
  • promotes intensive agriculture and technologies such as biofortification that benefit food and agro-industry;
  • neglects the commerciogenic causes of malnutrition (under and over nutrition) and its focus on food fortification and market-led approaches can undermine confidence in sustainable, culturally appropriate local foods; 
  • has limited impact on reducing malnutrition through its interventions, while carrying negative implications for human rights;
  • enhanced private sector access to and influence on nutrition policy setting in line with the World Economic Forum’s model outlined in its Global Redesign Initiative;
  • attempts to generate the illusion of a broad and inclusive people’s ‘movement’ but is in fact a public-private hybrid which legitimizes more corporate influence in public affairs;
  • fails to meaningfully address the concerns of communities most affected by hunger and malnutrition and undermines the efforts of those calling for effective conflict of interest regulations.

Read “When the SUN casts a shadow”.  You can also read the brief of the study.

For more information, please contact:

Laura Michéle, FIAN International: michele@fian.org
Stefano Prato, SID: stefanop@sidint.org
Patti Rundall, IBFAN: prundall@babymilkaction.org
For media enquiries, please contact delrey@fian.org

Mexico: Renewed hope for putting an end to widespread malnutrition

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The serious malnutrition crisis and a lack of access to adequate food have drawn international attention to Mexico. According to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy, the increasingly critical nutrition situation affects 28 million people in Mexico, thereby also increasing cases of non-communicable diseases. Between 2009 and 2015 alone, over half a million people died from diabetes.

Considering the abovementioned facts and the unfavorable legal context, any hope of change is pinned on the draft decree which includes the Right to Adequate Food Law. This decree was approved on April 30, 2015 by the Chamber of Deputies of the National Congress and sent to the Senate on this same date.

Granted constitutional standing six years ago, the right to food is a pending issue the State must address for those demographics in vulnerable situations*.

An approval of this law would entail compliance with the final observations of the Committee of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which on March 29, 2018, voiced concern about the “high levels of malnutrition and food insecurity, and on the other hand, increasing levels of overweight and obese people, affecting the effective enjoyment of the right to adequate food”. The Committee recommended that the State of Mexico formulate “a comprehensive national strategy to protect and promote the right to adequate food.”

Such action would also fulfill the recommendations made by Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, after his 2011 visit. Among his recommendations, the rapporteur underscores that “a framework law on the right to food could establish how to detect new threats against the right to adequate food as soon as possible … [And] provide an appropriate legislative foundation for existing social programs, in particular food aid programs, as well as aid programs for agricultural producers.”

As the new members join the Senate of the Republic of Mexico, FIAN International and its section in Mexico have renewed hope and urge the legislators to join the fight and put an end to the current bleak situation.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

*Especially indigenous peoples and communities, pregnant and lactating women, infants or preschool-age children, elderly people, people with disabilities that are unable to care for themselves, sick people in destitute situations, migrants, stateless persons, refugees and people affected by disasters or by situations considered food emergencies.

A child who dies of hunger, dies murdered

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A year ago, after several weeks hospitalized and after being subjected to numerous interventions, an 8-year-old girl from the municipality of Camotán, Mavelita Lucila Interiano Amador, died at the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City. For months, her family had fought for the State of Guatemala to give her adequate attention, but this was only provided when it was too late. Paradoxically, Mavelita died despite being beneficiary of judicial sentences aimed at the protection and restitution of her rights.

The death of Mavelita “could have been prevented,” according to the report on the “Situation of human rights in Guatemala” released in 2017 by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). With a similar message, former Special Rapporteur on the Right to the Food of the United Nations (UN), Jean Ziegler, asserted before the UN General Assembly that “a child who dies of hunger dies murdered”.

The case of Mavelita is not isolated in Guatemala, where half of the children suffer from chronic undernourishment, despite the fact that national legislation establishes mechanisms to guarantee their right to adequate food and nutrition, and to ensure protection in situations of food risk. The lack of access to adequate food, shelter and sanitation, as well as poor management of public health, can be deadly causes for children suffering from undernutrition. The figures are even higher for the indigenous and rural population, which further underlines that there is a structural and historical discrimination against these groups.

On the anniversary of the death of Mavelita, and in view of the increasing criminalization of human rights defenders, Guatemalan and international civil society urge the State of Guatemala to fully and comprehensively comply with the sentences for cases of child undernutrition in Camotán and ensure similar fates are prevented in future.

 You can access the statement here.

Support for passing the ‘Zero Hunger’ Bill needed

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Three years after the National Food Coalition (NFC), spearheaded by FIAN Philippines, initiated a campaign for a national framework law on the right to food, the country is just one step closer to meeting this goal. Recently approved by both the Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Human Rights, the so-called ‘Zero Hunger Bill’ is due for second reading. Officially referred to as “Right to Adequate Food (RTAF) Framework Bill”, the proposed bill mandates the government to establish a clear set of policy targets to end hunger in the Philippines within ten years. 

The Bill does not narrow food to a matter of charity but emphasizes it as a legal entitlement, with a comprehensive food program under an integrated whole-of-government approach. According to NFC, the main drivers of hunger in the Philippines are poverty, inequality and the resulting failure of the poor to access available resources. With 37% – or an estimated 8.1 million – Filipino families considering themselves “food poor”, it is crucial to address hunger in the country. 

Composed of over 75 organizations and federations, and accounting for more than 10.000 members, the NFC is calling on wider civil society to support the “Zero Hunger” campaign, so the Philippine Congress  passes the Bill at the earliest opportunity. The current online petition is expected to speed up the process and help establish a legal framework to institutionalize food security and make the country hunger-free.     

Visit the website campaign and sign the petition.
For more information, please contact the national food coalition.

Food and nutrition: not for sale

Posted on by fredsaxo

Over the coming year, around 795 million people will continue to face hunger, or “undernourishment,” using medical parlance. A further 2 billion will remain malnourished due to imbalanced diets — another form of hunger, mostly affecting children and women of reproductive age.

Paradoxically, while this happens, more than half a billion will be suffering from obesity and associated noncommunicable diseases, such as diabetes and cancer, and risking preventable early death. I don’t like to consider the cup — perhaps plate would be more appropriate — as half empty, but World Food Day hardly seems like a day for celebrations.
All these “numbers” have names and faces. Their suffering and deaths are predictable — most are indeed preventable — and are as unacceptable as the drowning of the two-year old refugee child Aylan. Such predicaments are not natural or accidental, but the result of misguided policies, actions and omissions by public authorities, from the local council to the global community. And that includes the failure to effectively regulate the activities of transnational corporations.

Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, business rhetoric has increasingly spilled over into the international political arena, namely the United Nations. Corporations have been positioning themselves as part of the solution to global challenges, such as climate change and eco-destruction, poverty and hunger.

In 2000, the U.N. Global Compact was created with the alleged purpose of stimulating TNCs to implement policies aligned with respecting human rights, environment and anti-corruption. A means to avoid binding regulations and replace these with voluntary initiatives, the Global Compact not only served to “bluewash” corporations but in fact handed them the keys and opened the door to the U.N.

Later in 2010, the World Economic Forum launched the Global Redesign Initiative. This spells out its vision for the restructuring of global governance, in particular the U.N., into a “multi-stakeholder” platform, in which corporations govern alongside states and select civil society organizations — a vision that is already kicking in under the watchful eye of big business.
And with the growing weight of the private sector on public policymaking, high priorities of TNCs have infiltrated crucial areas such as food and nutrition. Big food industry and agribusiness already, and heavily, influence this policy arena, including the type of solutions that should be sought to tackle malnutrition.

Examples of the above are initiatives such as Scaling Up Nutrition and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition. Although different in nature, both confine nutrition to the interaction between food and the human body, the technical and medical domains, thereby minimizing the socio-economic and cultural context in which human beings feed themselves. The danger of this approach is that the understanding of malnutrition is reduced to “the lack of nutrients” that can only be rectified with external technical interventions. These mostly involve industrialized food supplements, nutrient pills and powders — that not so coincidentally also imply large-scale profit.

As echoed by the Right to Food and Nutrition WATCH 2015, behind policy responses there are increasingly programs that are heavily influenced — and in some cases technically run — by the corporate sector. This progressively rules out bottom-up approaches based on the promotion of locally produced, diversified and culturally acceptable diets, which have proved their suitability to communities from every angle.

Continue reading here
This article was first published by Devex on the ocassion of World Food Day

Mali to host next Global Dialogue on the Right to Adequate Food and Nutrition

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Weeks after the last session in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the next Global Dialogue lands in Bamako, engaging with national governments’ representatives and grassroots organizations from across West Africa. Organized by the National Coordination of Peasants’ Organizations (CNOP), together with the Centre for Equity Studies (CES) and FIAN International, the event will serve as a platform to share and build knowledge in fighting hunger and human rights. 

For two consecutive days starting on 28th June, policy endeavors and developments around the right to adequate food and nutrition in Brazil, India, Mali and other West African countries will be showcased and discussed. After being kicked off by the Malian Ministry of Rural Development, the first day will include the presentation of the strategies for tackling food and nutrition insecurity in Mali, as well as of the laws and programs that brought about success in Brazil and India.  

Brazil and India represent two distinct experiences of significant state efforts to advance the progressive realization of the human right to food and nutrition, and their examples may therefore be insightful for others. Brazil and India will not be presented as models for emulation, but rather as a source of indicating viable choices when countries work on policies and program towards ensuring food security.

Participants will be playing a major role on the second day, which will be devoted to the exchange of views around strategic issues such as “major challenges concerning food and nutrition security in your country” and “extent to which the Brazil and Indian experiences provide guidance to tackle hunger and malnutrition.”

The participation of the Malian government, as well as of the Malian Convergence against Land Grabbing (CMAT), will provide a unique opportunity to debate and build knowledge on the country’s policy endeavors to ensure food security as well as make this next Global Dialogue distinctive. 

For media enquiries, please contact delrey[at]fian.org