Ambassador Rodolfo Benítez Verson, Permanent Representative of Cuba in Geneva, spoke on the panel ‘The role of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants (UNDROP) in the realization of the right to food: the role of peasant women’, organized by the Permanent Mission of Bolivia and a broad group of co-sponsors.
Benítez presented the arguments that allow to qualify the right to food as a norm of customary International Law, and therefore of obligatory compliance by all States, regardless of whether or not they have ratified specific treaties.
He illustrated the serious setback in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda's agreed goal of eliminating hunger on the planet by that year.
Since 2015, the number of hungry and food insecure people has increased. Thirty per cent of the world's population currently lacks access to adequate food; 735 million are chronically hungry. It is estimated that no fewer than 600 million people will be hungry by 2030.
In this context, the most affected are developing countries and vulnerable groups, mainly women and girls living in rural areas. While women play a key role in food production and processing, they are disproportionately affected by hunger, malnutrition and poverty.
The Cuban Ambassador debunked the myth that hunger is growing because there is a lack of food. On the contrary, the world produces more than enough food to feed the world's more than 8 billion inhabitants. In fact, more than 1 billion tons of food fit for human consumption is wasted or thrown away every year.
He emphasized that the problem lies in the unfair and unequal distribution of food. The root causes of hunger and food insecurity are structural in nature.
The Cuban representative stressed that achieving the goal of Zero Hunger requires coordinated global actions, including the effective implementation of UNDROP; the reform of the international financial architecture; the cancellation and significant relief of foreign debt; the elimination of unilateral coercive measures; the fulfilment of Official Development Assistance commitments; the granting of special and differential treatment to developing countries in trade matters, as well as sustainable investment in agriculture.
He announced that Cuba will propose the adoption at this session of the Human Rights Council of a resolution on the right to food, as part of Cuba's efforts to promote the realization of this human right.