Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, General Comment #34 par. 63 & 65 (2016)

Text of the recommendation

Food and nutrition. Rural women are critical to achieving food security, reducing poverty, malnutrition and hunger and promoting rural development, yet their contribution is often unpaid, unacknowledged and poorly supported. Rural women are among those most affected by food insecurity, exposed to food price volatility, malnutrition and hunger, and likely to suffer when food prices escalate (see A/HRC/22/50).

States parties should ensure the realization of the right to food and nutrition of rural women within the framework of food sovereignty and ensure that they have the authority to manage and control their natural resources.

States parties should pay particular attention to the nutritional needs of rural women, in particular pregnant and lactating women, putting in place effective policies ensuring that rural women have access to adequate food and nutrition, taking into account the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security.