July 3, 2012
Press Release
Protect People’s Right to Food
We are deeply concerned over situation of starvation due to lack of foods in Bajura district.
There are news reports that people in Bajura are affected as the government slashed 7000 quintals of rice at the office of Nepal Food Corporation in the district.
It is deplorable that people could not have an easy access to food in the context that the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 has enshrined food sovereignty as fundamental rights.
Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to which Nepal is a state party clearly states that all citizens have the rights to free from starvation and malnutrition.
Similarly, General Comment No 12 of the Covenant mentions that the State has to take special steps to prevent starvation even in natural disaster and calamities and it is duty of the State to make access of people to food either produced by them or easy distribution, processing and market systems. However, the Government of Nepal has given little attention to it.
We condemn that the Government is unable to provide chemical fertilizers and seeds to people and cannot manage to supply foods and store them in remote districts.
We demand that the Government of Nepal take an immediate step to provide foods including rice to the people of remote areas including Bajura. We also demand that the government give equal priority to the foods produced at local level.
Subodh Raj Pyakurel
Chairperson