The High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) is the United Nations’ “science-policy interface of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is the only intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder platform within the UN system dedicated to food security and nutrition. The HLPE provides the CFS with independent science and evidence-based analysis to inform policy related to food security and nutrition. In 2022, Hilal Elver was appointed to the HLPE Steering Committee, joining 14 other internationally-recognized experts to perform the following tasks:
- Assess and analyze the current state of food security and nutrition and its underlying causes.
- Provide scientific and knowledge-based analysis and advice on specific policy-relevant issues, utilizing existing high-quality research, data and technical studies.
- Identify emerging issues and helps members prioritize future actions and attentions on key focal areas.
HLPE Reports, Updates, and Open E-Consultations.
The HLPE process ensures legitimacy among stakeholders and a high degree of scientific quality by soliciting input through broad stakeholder consultations, incorporating diverse knowledge and expertise, and conducting a rigorous scientific peer-review process.
(In her capacity as the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Hilal Elver offered recommendations and inputs on the HLPE Report No. 14 |Agroecological and other innovative approaches for sustainable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and nutrition)
Published reports and information about ongoing and upcoming consultations are available here.
Committee on World Food Security & the Right to Food
CFS is comprised of UN member-states, UN agencies and bodies with a mandate on food security and nutrition, civil society, private sector associations and philanthropic foundations, financial and research institutions. The Committee is jointly supported by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Programme (WFP), which together provide core funding, technical expertise, and the joint CFS Secretariat.The Committee reports to the UN General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and to FAO Conference.
The CFS reform in 2009 established the right to food as integral to CFS activities, and designated all future Special Rapporteurs on the right to food as members of the CFS Advisory Group, which includes representatives from other UN bodies (FAO, WFP, IFAD, UN SCN, WHO), the CFS Civil Society Mechanism (CSM), international agricultural research bodies (CGIAR System Organization), international financial and trade institutions (World Bank), and private sector/philanthropic foundations (International Agri-Food Network and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).
Hilal Elver Calls on CFS to Consider Lessons of COVID-19 at the 2021 World Food Summit.
Featured CFS Publications
Right to Food Guidelines
The CFS monitors and supports the implementation of the endorsed Voluntary guidelines for the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security (Right to Food Guidelines). Read the full-text Guidelines HERE
The objective of the Right to Food Guidelines is to provide practical guidance to States in their implementation of the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security, in order to achieve the goals of the World Food Summit Plan of Action. They provide an additional instrument to combat hunger and poverty and to accelerate attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Inter-Governmental FAO Council adopted the Right to Food Guidelines by consensus in 2004. The Right to Food Guidelines represent the first attempt by governments to interpret an economic, social and cultural right and to recommend progressive actions to be undertaken for its realization in contexts of national food security. Moreover, they represent a step towards integrating human rights into the work of agencies dealing with food and agriculture.
Civil Society Report on the Use and Implementation of the Right to Food Guidelines 2018
It has never been so important to reflect on the space and significance of human rights and the right to food. Monitoring in the context of the CFS provides an opportunity to consider how the normative understanding of the right to food has advanced since the adoption of the RTF Guidelines , to document success in right to food implementation and to critically assess where (and why) violations of the right to food persist. It also provides an opportunity to establish spaces of accountability, to give voice to those most affected by violations of the right to food and nutrition, and to plan for the future.This report has been produced with the financial assistance of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC). The contents of this report, incorporating the results of an independent monitoring exercise undertaken by civil society organizations, are the sole responsibility of the CSM Working Group on Monitoring.