Sources

This is a guide to source materials relating to the human right to food and nutrition. Here and in the following alphabetized Bibliography, titles of documents are italicized. If they are also underscored and highlighted, users connected to the Worldwide Web can access these documents directly by clicking on the titles.

The best website for accessing materials relating to the human right to food and nutrition is maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, through their page entitled Right to Food.

There are many useful websites that deal with human rights generally. The most important is the site maintained by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Some regional human rights bodies have their own websites, such as the European Court of Human Rights. For general access to regional human rights agreements and bodies, consult  http://www.umn.edu/humanrts/regional.htm/

Several civil society organizations have created websites that provide an overview of, and links to, the many human rights sources on the web. The Concise Guide to Human Rights on the Internet prepared by Derechos Human Rights identifies many useful websites, offers guidance on finding  national materials, provides references to useful search engines, and also offers sections on Mailing Lists, Newsgroups, and Chat Rooms. Other sites that provide links to a broad array of human rights-related information include:

Most of the information about human rights on the web is international in its orientation. There is little detailed information about the human rights systems in particular countries. Thus, in studying particular countries, it is important to consult sources other than the web.

Civil society organizations can be good sources of information about particular countries. Some might be contacted through email. The United Nations Nongovernmental Liaison Service (UNNGLS) can assist in locating such organizations. It is important to recognize that most human rights CSOs (or NGOs) tend to focus on civil and political rights rather than economic and social rights. Also, human rights CSOs, like other organizations, have their own special agendas, and may not be well informed about issues outside their areas of specialization.

In addition to its more international information, the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights provides extensive information on individual countries, including the dates on which they have signed and ratified the major human rights agreements; any reservations, understandings, or declarations (RUDs) they may have issued in connection with these agreements; and their reports to the treaty bodies.

Several sources report on human rights on a country by country basis, listed below. They focus on reporting the human rights situation, but these reports may nevertheless yield information on the human rights system within these countries. Most of these reports give primary attention to civil and political rights, and less attention to economic, social and cultural rights.

The following websites provide useful information about food and nutrition issues from a global perspective. Most are not specifically focussed on the human rights aspect of those issues. The major international governmental organizations (IGOs) concerned with food are:

The major international civil society (nongovernmental) organizations concerned with food are:

World Food Day's website is at http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwwfd/   Its sponsors constitute a long list of organizations concerned with food.  The list can be reached at http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwwfd/committee/committee.html

One civil society organization has a website concerned specifically with the right to food:

Some websites focus on nutrition problems in a particular country, such as:

Some focus on food issues within sub-national regions. See, for example:

 

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Sources last updated on September 28, 1999