Azerbaijan: UN human rights expert visits to assess the right to food

“I look forward to the opportunity to assess the enjoyment of the right to food in Azerbaijan and learn more about the country’s food and agriculture policies that affect people’s livelihoods,” Elver said.

“The objective of my visit is to engage in constructive discussions to identify good practices as well as challenges, and provide useful recommendations to the Government and others.”

This is the first visit to the country by an independent expert on the right to food. The Special Rapporteur will visit Baku, Guba and Ganja. She will meet Government officials, the Ombudsman, representatives from the UN system, the international donor community, civil society organisations and different communities.

“I will be looking closely at how the benefits of economic growth and foreign investment affect the realisation of the right to food in Azerbaijan,” Elver said.

“I plan to examine the role that the agricultural sector plays, including examples of good practices and challenges. I will also assess the situation on the implementation of the right to food, particularly among women, children, minorities, people with disabilities and those forced to leave their homes in both urban and rural areas, known as internally displaced persons.

“I will also consider the role of the private sector; the impact of land tenure, environmental issues and climate change; and the issues related to nutrition and food quality, especially for infants and young children,” she said.

The Special Rapporteur will share the preliminary observations of her visit at a press conference to be held at the end of the visit at 12:00 local time on 11 October at: Winterpark Hotel, Zümrüd Conference Room, 210, Mirza-Aga Aliyev Street, Baku. Access will be strictly limited to accredited journalists.

Elver’s final report on the visit will be presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2020.

Ms Hilal Elver (Turkey) was appointed Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food by the Human Rights Council in 2014. She is a Research Professor, and co-director of the Project on Global Climate Change, Human Security, and Democracy housed at the Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies and global distinguished fellow at the University of California Los Angeles Law School (UCLA) Resnick Food Law and Policy Center.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.