The Right to Food around the Globe

  Colombia

The Constitution of the Republic of Colombia explicitly guarantees the right to adequate food.

The Republic of Colombia has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1969 by way of ratification.

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

Explicit protection of the right to adequate food

Article 43: “Women and men have equal rights and opportunities. Women cannot be subjected to any type of discrimination. During their periods of pregnancy and following delivery, women shall benefit from the special assistance and protection of the State and shall receive from the latter food subsidies if they should thereafter find themselves unemployed or abandoned.”

Article 44: “The following are basic rights of children: life, physical integrity, health and social security, a balanced diet […] They shall also enjoy other rights upheld in the Constitution, the laws, and international treaties ratified by Colombia.”

Article 46: “The State, society, and the family shall all participate in protecting and assisting individuals in the third age bracket and shall promote their integration into active and community life. The State shall guarantee to them services of integral social security and food subsidies in cases of indigence.”

National status of international obligations

Article 93: “International treaties and agreements ratified by Congress that recognize human rights and prohibit their limitation in states of emergency have domestic priority. The rights and duties mentioned in this Charter shall be interpreted in accordance with international treaties on human rights ratified by Colombia.”

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) – 1966

Status: Ratification (1969)

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – 1979

Status: Ratification (1982)

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – 1989

Status: Ratification (1991)

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – 2006

Status: Ratification (2011)

Legislation and policies recognizing the right to adequate food

Guidance on how to progressively realise the human right to adequate food in contexts of national food security has been provided by the Right to Food Guidelines, adopted by the FAO Council and endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security.

Considering that the human right to adequate food can be implemented through a variety of legal and policy actions, we invite you to visit the FAOLEX Country Profile database for a wide-ranging collection of measures that have been taken at national level. Some of the documents you may find are legislation and policies that touch on a number of relevant Guidelines, such as those on Access to resources and assets (Guideline 8), Food safety and consumer protection (Guideline 9), Support for vulnerable groups (Guideline 13) and Natural and human-made disasters (Guideline 16).

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