Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food on her mission to Paraguay, A/HRC/34/48/Add.2
The Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Ms. Hilal Elver, undertook a mission to Paraguay from 4 to 10 November 2016, at the invitation of the Government, with the aim of assessing the progress made and the challenges faced in realizing the human right to food in the country. The final report was submitted to the Human Rights Council in March 2017 during its thirty-fourth session. Read the report in six languages here.
Conclusions and Recommendations
102. Paraguay has adopted a wide range of policies and programmes to ensure the effective enjoyment of the right to food, as part of the right to an adequate standard of living. As highlighted in this report, however, challenges remain, particularly as regards the pay gap and the failure to implement legislation and policies on the right to food.
103. Moreover, although the growth of a free-market economy has contributed to the impressive growth achieved by the country over the past few years, that growth has not benefited everyone.
104. Poverty remains high in some parts of the country: not only is it becoming entrenched in rural areas, but there is also the risk that it will increase in urban areas, in view of the high rate of internal migration to the towns.
105. The situation is difficult for persons living in remote areas, for indigenous peoples and for persons living in extreme poverty. Further thought should be given to the effects of the large-scale agricultural model in order to ensure that there is no negative impact on the enjoyment of the right to food and that protection is provided for small producers.
106. In order to fully meet its human rights obligations with regard to the right to food, Paraguay should:
(a) Ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
(b) Prepare and adopt a human rights-based national framework law on the right to food, with effective benchmarks and implementation plans for each region. The financial framework should also contain the necessary budgetary and taxation measures, provide for long-term sustainability, establish the authorities and agencies responsible for implementation, provide for the proper supervision and accountability of the mechanisms that are established and promote the full and active participation of all interested parties, including those most vulnerable to hunger;
(c) Enact impending legislation, including the Act against All Forms of Discrimination, the Act on Extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform, the Act on Native and Creole Seeds and the bill on the right to adequate food and nutrition and, in particular, fast track the bill on the right to food sovereignty and nutrition and allocate budgetary and human resources for their effective implementation;
(d) Establish an effective legal framework for environmental protection, including, in particular, protection against the use of toxic agrochemical products, which would provide for appropriate sanctions for those who break the law and adequate compensation for persons affected, together with monitoring systems for its implementation;
(e) Enact a law introducing tariffs on the export of grain, including soya, which should help to increase tax revenues and, ultimately, social expenditure;
(f) Protect and promote family farming as a productive model. Support for small-scale food producers, particularly women, indigenous peoples and young people, should be increased and incomes raised by ensuring fair access to land and other productive resources;
(g) Implement the additional contracting method known as the simplified system for purchasing agricultural produce from family farming, in line with Government Decree No. 2000;
(h) Improve protection against forced evictions in accordance with the criteria established by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
(i) Monitor the implementation of the agrarian reform programme within the framework of the Constitution of Paraguay and the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Programme, giving priority to the rights of rural women;
(j) Modernize and update the cadastral register, setting a deadline for its finalization. Existing property titles must be reviewed, including those involving lands claimed by indigenous communities, with a view to assessing their legitimacy and resolving overlaps;
(k) Develop properly financed comprehensive nutrition policies aimed at dealing with all forms of malnutrition, including obesity and micronutrient deficiency. Their impact should be monitored and assessed on the basis of the relevant human rights indicators;
(l) Extend the coverage of school meals, to cover 100 per cent of children, giving priority to rural areas, and using the simplified system for purchasing agricultural produce from family farming (Government Decree No. 2000);
(m) Improve systems for the control and monitoring of the excessive use of pesticides;
(n) Implement and carefully monitor environmental regulations that protect human health or prevent soil degradation and water contamination that may occur as a result of intensive farming or large-scale animal husbandry;
(o) Create seed banks in order to maintain the genetic diversity of seeds and ensure fair participation in any benefits that may arise from the use of such genetic resources;
(p) Promote organic farming and agroecology and provide them with support, including financial mechanisms and the introduction of training programmes for agroecological agriculture;
(q) Improve the mainstreaming of the gender perspective in the institutional, legal and legislative framework relating to the right to adequate strategies and programmes on food and nutritional security and the right to rural development and support women farmers with additional incentives, access to credit and other agricultural resources;
(r) Implement the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples in Paraguay, as set out in her report to the Human Rights Council in 2015;
(s) Expand pension coverage and extend food provision to cover 100 per cent of indigent older persons, without discrimination of any kind;
(t) Adopt all necessary measures to guarantee the safety and rights of human rights defenders, including those working for economic, social and cultural rights;
(u) Implement the voluntary guidelines issued by FAO on activities relating to the establishment of national agricultural policies, and specifically the Voluntary Directives in Support of the Gradual Implementation of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security; the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security; and the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems;
(v) Continue efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 2: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”, and establish a human rights-based national review supervision system.