A/HRC/43/44/Add.1 B. At the national level Legal framework 22. Article 16 of the Constitution of Azerbaijan implicitly recognizes the right to food in the context of its affirmation on improving the prosperity of each and every citizen, as well as providing social protection and proper living conditions. In addition, international agreements ratified by Azerbaijan constitute an integral part of the legislative system of the country and have primacy over national law (arts. 148–151 of the Constitution). 23. In spite of having ratified all core human rights treaties, economic, social and cultural rights are not very well known or promoted in Azerbaijan. According to civil society organizations, most people have no knowledge of the core international human rights treaties and even less of the rights promoted and protected in those treaties. The right to food is not well understood and a human rights-based approach is not integrated into agriculture programmes and policies. 24. The Special Rapporteur wishes to emphasize the importance of explicit legislative recognition of the right to adequate food. A well-structured, comprehensive framework law on food security that covers all relevant sectors, enhanced by strong institutional backup and financial resources, would be a very effective step in that context. 25. Similarly, the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to food, allows individuals who claim to be victims of violations of those rights to file complaints before an independent and impartial body, to request adequate remedies and to have any remedy enforced (see A/HRC/28/65). In Azerbaijan, there are almost no cases related to the right to food brought before the courts because many citizens have no proper knowledge of the implications of the right to food and are therefore ignorant of their rights. The Special Rapporteur recommends that an effective judicial remedy be made available to all citizens. That is essential to the full enjoyment of the right to food by all individuals. 26. In order to protect human rights, judicial remedy is fundamental and ratification of the Optional Protocols on complaints procedures to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child would enable access to effective remedy for groups and individuals, providing an opportunity to bring cases to the international human rights monitoring bodies. C. Policies and programmes 27. Decision makers in Azerbaijan have made a strong commitment to diversifying the national economy away from oil and promoting the non-oil sectors in consideration of the volatility of the global economic system. Over recent years, the Government has launched a number of state programmes to vigorously promote the agricultural and rural sectors, and address some of their challenges. Those initiatives include the State programme on the socioeconomic development of the regions for the period 2014–2018; the State programme on poverty reduction and sustainable development for the period 2008–2015; the State program on reliable food provision for the period 2008–2015; and the development concept entitled “Azerbaijan Vision 2020: outlook for the future”.12 28. One of the main targets of Azerbaijan Vision 2020 is to more than double the volume of per capita GDP in the country, with growth derived from non-oil industries and agriculture being a major contributor to that growth. Priorities identified in Azerbaijan Vision 2020 for the agricultural and rural development sectors include the development of agro-industries based on local raw materials; continued support to agricultural production; simplified credit mechanisms for the agricultural sector; improved insurance systems in the agricultural sector; and the promotion of ecologically uncontaminated agricultural production.13 12 13 6 See FAO, “Country programming framework for Azerbaijan 2016–2020” (June 2016), p. 4. Ibid.