A/HRC/16/63 1. Right to food 43. The right to food was proclaimed in article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enshrined in article 11 of the Covenant. It has been interpreted as the right of all people to “be able to feed themselves, by their own means, with dignity”. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in its general comment No.12 (1999), stated that the right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement (para. 6). 44. According to the Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to Food, adopted unanimously by the States Members of FAO in November 2004, the right to food protects the right of people working in rural areas to have access to productive resources or the means of production, including land, water, seeds, microcredit, forests, fish and livestock (Guideline 8). According to the same guidelines, States should pursue inclusive, non-discriminatory and sound economic, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, land use and, as appropriate, land reform policies, all of which would permit farmers, fishers, foresters and other food producers, particularly women, to earn a fair return from their labour, capital and management, and encourage conservation and sustainable management of natural resources, including in marginal areas (Guideline 2.5).71 45. The above interpretation of the right to food has been completed by work of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. According to the Committee, States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are under an obligation to ensure sustainable access to water for agriculture and access to water and water management, and especially to sustainable techniques for gathering rain water and for irrigation, for the most disadvantaged and marginalized workers, including women.72 In several of its concluding observations, the Committee also underlined the need to protect peasant families’ access to seed. For example, in its concluding observations on India, it requested the State to provide State subsidies to enable farmers to purchase generic seeds that they are able to re-use, with a view to eliminating their dependency on multinational corporations.73 2. Right to adequate housing 46. The right to adequate housing was proclaimed in article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enshrined in article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, it should not be interpreted in a narrow or restrictive sense that equates it with, for example, the shelter provided by merely having a roof over one's head; rather, it should be seen as the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity.74 The right to 71 72 73 74 The obligations of States to respect, protect and fulfil the right to food are defined in Guideline 8 as follows: States should respect and protect the rights of individuals with respect to resources such as land, water, forests, fisheries and livestock without any discrimination. Where necessary and appropriate, States should carry out land reforms and other policy reforms consistent with their human rights obligations and in accordance with the rule of law in order to secure efficient and equitable access to land and to strengthen pro-poor growth. (…) States should also provide women with secure and equal access to, control over, and benefits from productive resources, including credit, land, water and appropriate technologies. E/C.12/2002/11. E/C.12/IND/CO/5, para. 69. Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1998, Supplement No. 2 (E/1998/22), annex IV, para. 7. 15