The Right to Food – A People’s Struggle
A new video launched by FIAN International on the occasion of World Food Day 2014 affirms the struggle of the people is vital to make human rights a reality.
Geneva, Switzerland / Heidelberg, Germany – October 15, 2014: The struggle of the people is vital to make human rights a reality, affirms a new video “The Right to Food – A People’s Struggle” launched by civil society on the occasion of World Food Day 2014 and parallel celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the Right to Food Guidelines.
This message is backed by a civil society report “10 Years of the Right to Food Guidelines – Progress, Obstacles and the Way Ahead” as well as the 2014 issue of the annual Right to Food and Nutrition Watch, in which the Global Network for the Right to Food and Nutrition, including FIAN International, and other civil society organizations and social movements seized the opportunity of the 10-year anniversary of the Right to Food Guidelines (adopted by the FAO in 2004) to carry out a stocktaking of one of the most violated rights in the world and call for a renewed commitment for the full realization of the right to adequate food and nutrition.
The ten-minute video includes interviews with representatives of social movements, civil society organizations and government and portrays people as rights-holders with a crucial power and role to claim their human right to food and turn it into a reality. “Every single breakthrough in human rights was part of a broad social mobilization”, Flavio Valente, Secretary General of FIAN International, points out.
For the realization of the right to food, access to land and other natural resources is vital, particularly for rural and indigenous women, as described by Sarojeni V. Rengam, Asian Rural Women’s Coalition (ARWC): “For women, land is life and for them it is not possible to work in agriculture or to be in the communities as indigenous women or peasant women, even workers, or landless workers, without having access to land and resources”.
“The Right to Food – A People’s Struggle” highlights the struggles of people as living organisms and ongoing processes, and describes how people are finding different avenues to claim their right to food and holding States accountable for their obligations, either by mobilizing and going to the streets, going to the courts and making rights justiciable, or simply by joining forces and speaking up.Manigueuigdinapi Jorge Stanley Icaza, International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), concludes: “… [W]e are carrying out a process thanks to previous generations, from whom we inherited the struggles […]. It doesn’t end here with the approval of a declaration or set of guidelines. It must continue with the next generations yet to be born.”
Outlining the way forward, Claire Quenum from the African Network on the Right to Food (RAPDA) argues “[t]he work of raising awareness has to be continued, because we, as civil society organizations, will not defend people’s rights for them. We must support them so that they can take ownership of their rights in order to fully enjoy them”.
“You have the power to claim your #RightToFood”. The video’s final message calls upon people to join the struggle for the RightToFood by claiming their rights and holding their government accountable for human rights violations.
Participate and follow the commemorations today in your communities to celebrate World Food Day and support the worldwide struggle of peoples to realize their right to food! Pass along the twitter hashtag #RightToFood to promote the video, stay informed and share information on the right to food.