TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS SHOULD BE HELD TO HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS - UN
EXPERT
New York, Oct 13 2003 3:00PM

The United Nations expert on the right to food today recommended that UN
Member States better monitor transnational companies to protect food
supplies for the poor and suggested that non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) could play a role in this effort.

In a report to the General Assembly released today, Jean Ziegler, Special
Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights on the right to food, also
praises the Governments of Sierra Leone and Brazil for their food
initiatives.

Mr. Ziegler says "the growing power of transnational corporations and
their extension of power through privatization, deregulation and the
rolling back of the State also mean that it is now time to develop binding
legal norms that hold corporations to human rights standards and
circumscribe potential abuses of their position of power."

Noting that transnational corporations are often many times bigger than
some of the countries in which they operate, and that they "are still
rarely under scrutiny for their respect of human rights," Mr. Ziegler
concludes, "it is therefore vital to strengthen monitoring mechanisms."

"Governments should regulate transnational corporations and their
activities in the food system with a view to implementing their obligation
to protect their citizens and those in other countries," he writes.

"Non-governmental organizations should have a crucial role to play in
order to help states, human rights mechanisms and the transnational
corporations themselves to ensure the fulfilment of all human rights,
including the right food," he says.

The report also says, "While advances have been made in women's formal
rights, this has not been accompanied by adequate attention to making
these rights meaningful and substantive so the real impact of
international instruments on women's lives remains limited. Women continue
to suffer de facto discrimination in access to and control over food,
land, and incomes and other resources."

He recommends governments "reduce the gap between advocated norms and
reality."

The report compliments Brazil's new government for its 41-point "Zero
Hunger" programme and the Government of Sierra Leone for the new emphasis
it is putting on the right to food.

UN News Service

---
CONNECTIONS

* Learn more about international standards on the right to food in HREA's
study guide on Food & Water:
http://www.hrea.org/learn/guides/food.html