The Human Rights Dimension John Corey

Human Rights Commission

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food. 

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food.

UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)  • Article 11(1) recognises the right of everyone to an adequate

standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. 

•  Article 11(2) guarantees the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, and obliges State Parties to take steps in this regard, including the improvement of methods of distribution of food, and dissemination of knowledge concerning the principles of nutrition.

General ICESCR is General Comment 12

“every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement.”

UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food has defined the right to food as: “the right to have regular, permanent and free access, either directly or by means of financial purchases, to quantitatively and qualitatively adequate and sufficient food corresponding to the cultural traditions of the people to which the consumer belongs, and which ensures a physical and mental, individual and collective, fulfilling and dignified life free of fear.”