Human Rights organizations join efforts to defend the Right to Food in Uganda during COVID-19

An international group of civil society organizations has submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Ugandan Court of Appeal to support a public interest case which aims to hold the Ugandan government accountable for not providing access to adequate food during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Uganda based Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT), who filed the public interest case, is appealing against the Kampala High Court judgement of 04 June 2020 in a case related to COVID-19, where the Court does not recognize any violation of the right to food by the government for the omission to establish food reserves in the country which are important especially during the pandemic. According to the plaintiffs, the lack of food reserves has severely aggravated the food crisis.

The amicus curiae was written in a collective effort by legal food experts from all over the world, including FIAN International and Center for Economic and Social Rights at the international level, as well as the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) from Uganda, Pro Public from Nepal and Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) from India, under the coordination of the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net).

Established international, regional, and comparative domestic right to food standards highlighted in the amicus curiae reinforce the Ugandan State’s human rights duties to respond to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by, among others:

  • Recognizing and enforcing the right to food within the domestic legal order;
  • Appropriately providing for all necessary food distribution during the pandemic;
  • Establishing and maintaining food reserves;
  • Ensuring economic accessibility of food and food price stabilization.

“The amicus curiae contains important legal and human rights sources that are crucial to support the Appeal Court to reach to an equitable judgement and, therefore, to advance the implementation of right to food in Uganda, particularly for the most vulnerable groups suffering from the lockdown measures”, comments Valentin Hategekimana, Africa Coordinator at FIAN International. “At the same time, the amicus seeks to contribute to jurisprudence on the Right to Food in Uganda and Africa at large”.

For more information, please contact: hategekimana(at)fian.org

Read the amicus curiae on COVID-19 case in Uganda

For further information, also see FIAN International Legal Toolkit: COVID-19 and the right to food. A list of international obligations.