Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food on her mission to Viet Nam, A/HRC/40/56/Add.1
The Special Rapporteur conducted an official visit to Viet Nam at the invitation of the Government from 13 to 23 November 2017. The objective of the mission was to evaluate the progressive realization of the right to food in Viet Nam. Read the report in six languages here.
Conclusions and Recommendations
121. In concluding, the Special Rapporteur notes that human rights are of central importance to the success and achievements of the sustainable development efforts of Viet Nam, which are closely connected with achieving high levels of food security and self-sufficiency. The Special Rapporteur’s recommendations are made in a spirit of admiration for the progress that Viet Nam has made in recent years with respect to poverty reduction and improving food security and nutritional standards.
122. Viet Nam is clearly committed to the implementation of the Sustainable
Development Goals and submitted its Voluntary National Review report in July 2018. The Special Rapporteur encourages Viet Nam to continue to ensure full and meaningful participation by civil society during the consultation period.
123. The Special Rapporteur strongly encourages Viet Nam, in line with a number of recommendations made in the framework of the universal periodic review process, to consider the establishment of an independent national human rights institution in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles).
124. The Special Rapporteur trusts that the Government will give priority to designing and implementing effective policies with the participation of all relevant stakeholders aimed at ensuring the right to adequate food. She is convinced that Viet Nam could further improve the current situation and make impressive strides in attaining food and nutrition security for everyone in the future, while at the same time working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
125. Finally, the Special Rapporteur wishes to reiterate her commitment to continue the dialogue initiated during her visit. She looks forward to working with the Government in a spirit of cooperation on the implementation of her recommendations.
126. In order to meet its human rights obligations, especially the right to food, Viet Nam should:
(a) Ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights;
(b) Implement the voluntary guidelines issued by FAO on activities relating
to the establishment of national agricultural policies, specifically the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization 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; Inputs from the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs.(c) Guarantee the inclusion of an explicit recognition in the country’s
Constitution of the right to adequate food;(d) 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 framework law should: (a) include a financial structure that contains the necessary budgetary and taxation measures for support to smallholder farmers, as well as gender-sensitive budgeting; (b) protect long-term sustainability for agricultural production; (c) establish authorities and agencies responsible for implementation; (d) provide for the proper supervision and accountability mechanisms to promote the full and active participation of all interested parties, including those most vulnerable;(e) Ensure the application of the basic principles and guidelines on
development-based evictions and displacement (A/HRC/4/18, annex I), which constitute a practical tool to assist States and agencies in developing policies, legislation, procedures and preventive measures to ensure that forced evictions do not take place, that violence is prevented and that effective redress is provided for persons whose human rights have been violated;
(f) In case of industrial accidents that are harmful to the environment and
human health, inform the public in a timely manner and make available a transparent compensation system to avoid a severe impact on local people;
(g) Create and ensure the proper functioning of an independent institution
to oversee human rights, in accordance with the Paris Principles;
(h) Continue its agricultural policy in the direction of diversifying
agricultural production and support other agricultural sectors besides rice production;
(i) Promote organic farming and agroecology and provide them with
support, including financial mechanisms, and introduce training programmes for agroecological practices;
(j) Legislate to limit the excessive and dangerous use of toxic agrochemicals,
establish monitoring systems, provide appropriate enforcement of the law and adequate compensation for affected persons;
(k) Reform the school feeding programme to ensure that it has national
coverage and that it contains all the elements of a nutritious diet, avoiding corporate influence;
(l) Develop properly financed, comprehensive nutrition policies aimed at
dealing with stunting and wasting of children, micronutrient deficiency and obesity.Their impact should be monitored and assessed on the basis of the relevant human rights indicators;
(m) Mainstream a gender perspective in the institutional and legislative
framework in order to enhance access to adequate food and nutrition for women and girls. Additional incentives should be developed for rural women to access land, credit and other productive resources.