The Right to Food

by anderson

Sixty-third General Assembly
Third Committee

THIRD COMMITTEE DRAFT TEXT ENDORSES RECOMMENDATIONS, FUTURE WORKPLAN OF HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL’S WORKING GROUP ON RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT

Vote on Right to Food

The draft resolution on the right to food (document A/C.3/63/L.42/Rev.1) was approved by a recorded vote of 180 in favour to 1 against, with no abstentions, as follows:

In favour: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Against: United States.

Merry Christmas, World!

Comments

[Steve Hynd]

"By a vote of 180 in favour to 1 against (United States) and no abstentions, the Committee also approved a resolution on the right to food, by which the Assembly would “consider it intolerable” that more than 6 million children still died every year from hunger-related illness before their fifth birthday, and that the number of undernourished people had grown to about 923 million worldwide, at the same time that the planet could produce enough food to feed 12 billion people, or twice the world’s present population. (See Annex III.)"

Jeebus.

[anderson]

Indeed. Bushies apparently think that it is entirely tolerable that 6 million children die every year from hunger-related illness.

[Peter G.]

Anybody know what rationale was offered for this embarrassing vote?

[anderson]

Here is something of an excuse, some "procedural disagreement" and the authority of the covenant cited. Quibbling, basically, and looking ridiculous for it. It was, of course, a nothing vote. It is certainly not going suddenly bestow food upon the world's starving. But why quibble?

"What they are saying is that the ESC Covenant does not address the right to food so the draft resolution cannot cite the ESC Covenant as the authority for saying that there is a right to food. Whether you agree or not, it is not correct, in my opinion, to say that the US voted against the right to food. They voted against a resolution because it cited bad authority for the underpinning of the resolution."

[Pinky Left Brain]

If it's a 'nothing vote' and has no consequences than why be the only country to vote no?

Would it make sense to vote against something declaring that there would be more votes on other issues because they left out a period on the last sentence?

Bushies are heartless and don't care what the rest of the world thinks about them. Are they not unlike the government of Israel or maybe even North Korea or Iran?

They even have the balls to piss on a 'feel good' vote.

It's not 'compassionate conservatism', it's 'conservative compassion', ie: None...

[Pinky Left Brain]

Here is the bit from the US. It's appalling and embarrassing. The United States calls for a vote, objects to language and assumes that other nations will jump onto this wagon headed over a cliff and ends up being the only one to plunge headlong over the cliff... Given the Bush administration's hatred of the 'rule of law' and treaties, is this really surprising?

The Chair informed the Committee that a recorded vote had been requested and, in response to a question by Cuba, the Chair noted that the United States had requested the vote.

The Committee then approved the draft by a recorded vote of 180 in favour to 1 against ( United States), with no abstentions. (See Annex III.)

Speaking in explanation of vote, the representative of the United States said that, while agreeing with the sentiment expressed in the resolution, his delegation could not support the text as drafted. The United States felt that the attainment of the “right to adequate food” or the “right to be free from hunger” was a goal that should be realized progressively. The current resolution contained numerous objectionable provisions, including inaccurate textual descriptions of underlying rights. The United States was the largest food donor in the world of international humanitarian food aid and it would continue to work towards providing food security to all. In the future, he expressed hope that the co-sponsors would work to address his delegation’s concerns, so the United States could join other countries in adopting the draft.