A/HRC/19/73 I. Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council requested the Advisory Committee in resolution 16/27 of 25 March 2011 to undertake a comprehensive study on the relationship between severe malnutrition and childhood diseases, taking children affected by noma as an example, and on ways to improve the protection of malnourished children. The mandate followed up the Committee‟s study on discrimination in the context of the right to food (A/HRC/16/40), which identified children with noma as victims of de facto discrimination in relation to the right to food. 2. The drafting group on the right to food, consisting of José Bengoa Cabello, Chinsung Chung, Latif Hüseynov, Jean Ziegler and Mona Zulficar 1 prepared a preliminary study on severe malnutrition and childhood diseases with children affected by noma as an example (A/HRC/AC/7/CRP.2). At its seventh session, the Committee welcomed the preliminary study and invited the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to collect the views and comments on the study of all Member States, relevant United Nations special agencies and programmes and other relevant stakeholders. 3. The present study on severe malnutrition and childhood diseases with children affected by noma as an example is the outcome of research and consultations among members of the Advisory Committee and relevant stakeholders, and draws upon previous work of the Committee (A/HRC/16/40 and A/HRC/AC/3/CRP.3). The study benefited from the support, views and comments by Member States, the World Health Organization (WHO), non-governmental organizations and experts in the field of malnutrition and noma.2 The study was considered and endorsed by the Committee at its eighth session, for submission to the Human Rights Council at its nineteenth session. 4. The first part of the study focuses on the intersection between severe malnutrition, childhood disease and human rights. The second part elaborates on the situation of children at risk of or affected by noma. The annex contains human rights principles and guidelines to improve the protection of children at risk or affected by malnutrition, specifically at risk of or affected by noma. II. Severe malnutrition, childhood diseases and human rights 5. The intersection between severe malnutrition, childhood diseases and human rights deserves greater attention for a number of reasons. First, the timeliness of the mandate entrusted by the Council to the Committee should be seen against statistics that show that malnutrition in children remains strikingly high.3 The food crises of recent years, 1 2 3 The drafting group on the right to food would like to thank Ioana Cismas from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights for her important contribution during the drafting of the present study. The drafting group would like to thank all the stakeholders that provided input on various drafts, including Algeria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Cuba, Ghana, Switzerland, the World Health Organization, CARE International, Dutch Noma Foundation, Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, Facing Africa, Geneva Study Group on Noma, Hilfsaktion Noma, Label Vert, Medico International, Noma-HilfSchweiz, Médecins sans Frontières, Sentinelles, Winds of Hope Foundation, Ruth Dreifuss, Cyril O. Enwonwu, Siv O‟Neall and Theophile Mbuguye. Written statements and comments are contained in the files of the Secretariat and Jean Ziegler. M. de Onis, M. Blössner, E. Borghi, “Prevalence and trends of stunting among pre-school children, 1990-2020”, Public Health Nutrition, 2011, 1-7; WHO, “WHO, nutrition experts take action on 3