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NEWS
BITS
NATIONAL SEMINAR ON THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD IN UGANDA
22-24th January 2003, Nile Resort, Jinja, Uganda
Joseph Mutuku, representing AJFAND
The right to adequate food is recognized in several instruments
under international law (General Comment No. 12). The International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights deals more comprehensively
than any other instrument with this right. It is against this background
that a seminar on "Implementation of the Right to Adequate
Food in Uganda" was held. The meeting brought together a broad
spectrum of participants including senior member of the Uganda government,
Ugandan Ministry of Agriculture, various CSOs/NGOs (such as Mubende,
Kapchorwa and Pader), and the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHCR).
From the international community, countries represented were: Norway,
Kenya, Sierra Leone, Mali, Brazil, Malawi, Nepal and South Africa.
The main theme of the meeting was a rights-based approach (RBA)
to adequate food in Uganda.
According to the coordinator of the World Alliance for Nutrition
and Human Rights (WANAHR), Dr. Uwe Kracht, one of the recommendations
made during the Bonn meeting was to increase use of seminars and
workshops on the implementation of economic, social and cultural
rights in general and the right to adequate food in particular.
As a consequence, International Project on the Right to Food in
Development (IPFRD) launched an initiative of facilitating a series
of such national seminars on the right to adequate food in a number
of countries. Three national seminars have already been held in:
South Africa January 2002, Brazil in March 2002 and Norway in April
2002. During the Uganda meeting, these countries shared their experiences
with the participants. The seminar also saw a review of three policy
frameworks in Uganda addressing food and nutrition issues: Plan
for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA), Poverty Eradication Action
Plan )PEAP) and the draft Food and Nutrition Policy (FNP) against
the United Nations General Comment No. 12. Participants observed
that while the policy frameworks broadly address the issue of poverty
reduction, they fail to adopt a rights-based (RBA) approach in their
formulation. A framework law is therefore important for the realization
of the right to adequate food in Uganda. Additional seminars are
planned for Mali, Siera Leone and Nepal. Kenya made an appeal for
such a seminar to be held in the country sometime in the near future.
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