The Right to Food around the Globe

  Niger

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

The Republic of the Niger has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1986 by way of accession. It has become a Party to the Optional Protocol (OP-ICESCR) in 2014 by way of accession.

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

Explicit protection of the right to adequate food

Article 12: "Each one has the right to life, to health, to physical and moral integrity, to a healthy and sufficient food supply, to potable water, to education and instruction in the conditions specified by the law.[...]"

Directive principles of state policy

Article 146: "The action of the State in matters of the policies of economic and social development is supported by a strategic vision. The State makes of the creation of wealth, of growth and of the fight against inequality a major axis of its interventions. The public policies must promote food supply sovereignty, durable development, the access to all to social services as well as the improvement of the quality of life."

National status of international obligations

Article 171: "The treaties or agreements regularly ratified have, from their publication, an authority superior to that of the laws, subject to, for each agreement or treaty of its application by the other party"

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

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

Status: Accession (1986)

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

Status: Accession (1999)

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

Status: Ratification (1990)

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

Status: Ratification (2008)

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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