RES/6/2 Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food

Human Rights Council

Resolution 6/2. Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food

The Human Rights Council,

Reaffirming all previous resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the

Commission on Human Rights on the issue of the right to food, including General

Assembly resolution 61/163 of 19 December 2006 and Commission on Human Rights

resolution 2005/18 of 14 April 2005,

Bearing in mind paragraph 6 of General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15

March 2006,

Recalling the resolutions 5/1 “Institution-building of the United Nations

Human Rights Council” and 5/2 “Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate-

holders of the Human Rights Council” of 18 June 2007 and stressing that the

mandate-holder shall discharge his/her duties in accordance with these resolutions and

their annexes,

Recalling also commitments taken by the international community to fully

implement the Millennium Development Goals,

Recognizing that the problems of hunger and food insecurity have global

dimensions and that they are likely to persist and even increase dramatically in some

regions of the world unless urgent, determined and concerted action is taken,

1. Welcomes the valuable work and commitment of Mr. Jean Ziegler

during his tenure as the first mandate holder to achieving the realization of the right to

food;

2. Decides to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right

to food for a period of three years:

(a) To promote the full realization of the right to food and the adoption of

measures at the national, regional and international levels for the realization of the

right of everyone to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free

from hunger so as to be able fully to develop and maintain their physical and mental

capacities;

(b) To examine ways and means of overcoming existing and emerging

obstacles to the realization of the right to food;

(c) To continue mainstreaming a gender perspective and taking into

account an age dimension in the fulfilment of the mandate, considering that women

and children are disproportionately affected by hunger, food insecurity and poverty;

(d) To submit proposals that could help the realization of Millennium

Development Goal No. 1 to halve by the year 2015 the proportion of people who

suffer from hunger, as well as to realize the right to food, in particular, taking into

account the role of international assistance and cooperation in reinforcing national

actions to implement sustainable food security policies;

(e) To present recommendations on possible steps with a view to

achieving progressively the full realization of the right to food, including steps to

promote the conditions for everyone to be free from hunger and as soon as possible

enjoy fully the right to food, taking into account lessons learnt in the implementation

of national plans to combat hunger;

(f) To work in close cooperation with all States, intergovernmental and

non-governmental organizations, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights, as well as with other relevant actors representing the broadest possible range

of interests and experiences, within their respective mandates, to take fully into

account the need to promote the effective realization of the right to food for all,

including in the ongoing negotiations in different fields;

(g) To continue participating in and contributing to relevant international

conferences and events with the aim of promoting the realization of the right to food;

3. Calls upon all Governments to cooperate with and assist the Special

Rapporteur in his/her task, to supply all necessary information requested by him/her

and to give serious consideration to responding favourably to the requests of the

Special Rapporteur to visit their countries, to enable him/her to fulfil his/her mandate

effectively;

4. Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to

provide all necessary human and financial resources for the effective fulfilment of the

mandate of the Special Rapporteur;

5. Invites the Special Rapporteur ending the fulfilment of his mandate to

submit to the Council in 2008 a comprehensive final report on his findings,

conclusions and recommendations, after more than six years as mandate holder on the

right to food;

6. Reaffirms that the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive

Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security,

adopted by the General Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations in November 2004 represent a practical tool to promote the realization

of the right to food for all, contribute to the achievement of food security and thus

provide an additional instrument in the attainment of internationally agreed

development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration;

7. Requests the Special Rapporteur to submit a report on the

implementation of the present resolution to the General Assembly at its sixty-third

session and to the Council in 2008, in accordance with its annual programme of work;

8. Invites Governments, relevant United Nations agencies, funds and

programmes, treaty bodies and civil society actors, including non-governmental

organizations, as well as the private sector, to cooperate fully with the Special

Rapporteur in the fulfilment of his/her mandate, inter alia through the submission of

comments and suggestions on ways and means of realizing the right to food;

9. Decides to continue its consideration of this matter under the same

agenda item.

[Adopted without a vote] 20th meeting

27 September 2007

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