By Olimatou Coker
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in collaboration with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), recently held a 2-day national dialogue on the right to food in The Gambia.
The dialogue, held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre, brought together stakeholders to discuss the legal, policy, institutional, and administrative frameworks that shape food security and nutrition in the country.
The objective of the dialogue was to foster inclusive discussions on the right to food, identify opportunities for effective implementation, share experiences and promising practices, and find durable solutions to the challenges facing food security and nutrition in The Gambia. The dialogue aimed to promote coordinated action among government institutions, the National Human Rights Commission, civil society organizations, and development partners, including the United Nations.
The dialogue highlighted the importance of recognizing the right to food as a fundamental human right. Speakers emphasized that food insecurity in The Gambia is driven by factors such as climate change, poverty, and limited agricultural resources. They noted that many rights holders struggle to access sufficient and nutritious food, with rural communities being the most challenged.
The dialogue emphasised the need for a multi-sectoral approach to address food security and nutrition challenges. This includes involving agriculture, fisheries, nutrition, food safety, and research. Emmanuel Denial Joof, the Chairman at the NHRC, stressed that food security requires collective effort and collaboration among government institutions, civil society organizations, and development partners.
“The right to food is fundamental human rights. The NHRC was set up to promote and protect the fundamental rights and freedoms and fundamental rights and freedoms include civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, the right to a clean environment, and everything else involving human rights.”
The UN Resident Coordinator, Karl Frederick Paul, noted that progress has been made in integrating the right to food into policy frameworks and development planning in The Gambia. However, many challenges remain, including rural poverty, climate shocks, limited access to markets, and persistent inequalities, particularly for women, girls, and adolescents.
The dialogue concluded with a call to action to ensure that food security is recognized and treated as a human right, rather than just a privilege. Participants emphasized the need for practical and rights-based solutions to address the challenges facing food security and nutrition in The Gambia.
The dialogue highlighted the importance of recognising the right to food as a fundamental human right, addressing the root causes of food insecurity, including climate change, poverty, and limited agricultural resources, promoting a multi-sectoral approach to address food security and nutrition challenges and strengthening accountability and mobilising collective will to transform recommendations into action.
According to the organisers, the dialogue marked an important step towards addressing the challenges facing food security and nutrition in the country.
Stakeholders argued that by working together, they can ensure that food security is recognised and protected as a fundamental human right, and that all Gambians have access to sufficient and nutritious food.
