The Right to Freedom from Hunger

The Right to Freedom from Hunger

The Right to Freedom from Hunger

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food…” Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) states that everyone has “…the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger…”

Theme in the news

'The Human Right to Food and the Global Food Crisis'

3/09/08
On August 29th, some of the human rights world’s leading voices, working toward solutions to the global food crisis, gathered at the United Nations to discuss: 'The Human Right to Food and the Global Food Crisis: Root Causes and Responses'. The need for a human rights-based approach to solving the food crisis has never been more pressing.
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Friday: Live web-cast discussion on Right to Food

28/08/08
People around the world continue to bear the burden of rising food costs; while the global food crisis' root causes remain unaddressed. This Friday at 19:00 GMT, Every Human Has Rights partners ActionAid and Realizing Rights, join Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, and others to discuss a human rights approach to ending the food crisis. You can listen in via live web-cast.
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Elders join HungerFREE demanding action

19/07/08

Elders join HungerFREE to demand urgent action on global food crisis Kofi Annan, Desmond Tutu, Mary Robinson and other Elders joined forces with ActionAid’s HungerFREE campaign last night to continue the fight against the global food crisis...

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The Right to Freedom from Hunger

No time to wait on hunger

Today, as many as 1.7bn people are food insecure, of whom probably 950 million chronically malnourished. 16,000 children die of hunger-related causes every day. Yet there is more than enough food produced in the world to feed every person and a record cereal harvest is predicted this year. Why then are millions dying or hundreds of millions suffering from chronic malnutrition?

The scourge of hunger and widespread food insecurity continues to grow at an increasing pace because as an international community, we have yet to address the sources of the problem.

Everyone has the Right to Adequate Food and governments have an obligation to fulfill this Right.

Through the UN Millennium Development Goals, government leaders committed to halve world hunger by 2015. Yet today hunger is increasing in most parts of the world.

Read more about Freedom from Hunger.

There is no Excuse for Hunger.

Pledge to stand up for the Right to Freedom from Hunger




ActionAid

Among those standing up for the Right to Food is ActionAid whose aim is to fight poverty worldwide. HungerFREE is the global campaign of ActionAid International, working to hold governments accountable for their commitment to halve hunger by 2015.

Read More about ActionAid

Want to Learn More About our Rights to Freedom of Expression

ActionAid's HungerFREE Campaign

ActionAid's work on food rights

ActionAid International

Living the principles of the Universal Declaration

Here are a few profiles of people who uphold the principles of the Universal Declaration through their work protecting the Freedom of Expression. If you have a story about the Freedom of Expression from your community, please share it with us here.

Ana Maria Maranon de Bohorquez

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Disabled Advocate for Homeless Children

Disabled by polio, Ana Maria Maranon de Bohorquez has devoted 20 years to helping street children in Bolivia. She is the founder of three shelters which offer food, education and formal training in life skills. One of the shelters helps children and teenagers in drug rehabilitation. Another focuses on teenage mothers and helps them resume formal education.

Otto Saki

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Legal Advocate for the Dispossessed

Since organizing a boycott while following the death of a student protester, Otto Saki has defended human rights in Zimbabwe. He represents human rights activists: students, women, union members who face harassment, intimidation and arrest when they protest the government's growing repression. Despite police threats and intimidated judges, he also assists shantytown dwellers whose settlements are being bulldozed by the government, helping thousands of families apply to the High Court to prevent the demolitions and seek restitution.

Prateep Ungsongtham Hata

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Women's Legal Rights Leader

Starting with a school she ran as a teenager in her family's tiny house in the Khlong Toey slum, Prateep Unsongtham Hata became one of Thailand's most visible activists, defending slum dwellers' rights to education and basic services. Klong Toey is the largest of some 300 slums around Bangkok, housing over 800,000 persons, half of them children.