A/HRC/19/73 B. Malnutrition and childhood diseases: binding obligations of States under international law 21. This human rights situation is taking place against the background of an international legislative framework that guarantees the host of rights of children and their mothers that are at stake when malnutrition intersects with childhood disease, notably the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 22. States parties to these international instruments are legally bound to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. In the context of malnutrition, States should ensure, in collaboration with international organizations and civil society, the necessary conditions for parents to be able to adequately feed themselves and their children (Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 11, para. 1, and the Committee‟s, general comment No. 12). Moreover, States have agreed to establish food insecurity and vulnerability maps and to use disaggregated data to identify “any form of discrimination that may manifest itself in greater food insecurity and vulnerability to food insecurity, or in a higher prevalence of malnutrition among specific population groups, or both, with a view to removing and preventing such causes of food insecurity or malnutrition”.42 These tools must be used to rectify the current situation, which has seen “no meaningful improvement” in reducing underweight prevalence among children from poor households as opposed to considerable progress in rich households.43 Protecting the rights of the most vulnerable is a human rights imperative which flows not least from the general prohibition on discrimination under human rights law and the Charter of the United Nations (A/HRC/16/40, paras 9–11). 23. Of great relevance for the intersection of malnutrition and paediatric diseases is article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely ratified human rights instrument. It provides that States shall pursue “full implementation” of the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and shall therefore take appropriate measures to combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter alia, the application of readily available technology and the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking water. According to the same article, States are “to ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to education and are supported in the use of basic knowledge of child health and nutrition, the advantages of breastfeeding, hygiene and environmental sanitation and the prevention of accidents”. Article 12 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women requires States parties to ensure to women appropriate services concerning with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, granting free services where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding. 24. The 2010 UNICEF report on achieving the MDGs with equity should therefore be read in the key of international legal obligations of States, and not of voluntarily commitments: “Many countries that have met – or are close to meeting – the MDG 1 target on underweight prevalence must make a serious effort to reduce the prevalence of stunting. A comprehensive approach will address food quality and quantity, water 42 43 Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security, guideline 13. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2011 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.11.I.10), p. 14. 9