National Commission on Human Rights Urges Integration of Right to Food Principles into Government Policy
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has requested that the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) and the National Food Agency (Bapanas) integrate the principles of the right to food into their policies and oversight mechanisms to ensure the sustainable fulfilment of public rights.
This effort was undertaken through the dissemination and dialogue of the Standard Norms and Regulations (SNP) on the Right to Food, involving both agencies on Tuesday (29/9), to strengthen the application of human rights standards in national food governance.
Komnas HAM Commissioner for Research and Study, Uli Parulian Sihombing, stated in Jakarta on Thursday that the SNP on the Right to Food was developed as a guide for ministries, agencies, and other stakeholders in formulating policies, as well as a reference for interpreting issues regarding the fulfilment of food rights.
“The SNP aims to serve as a guide/reference for the creation of state policies by Ministries/Agencies and other parties, as a reference for interpreting the issue of the right to food,” said Uli.
Under these standards, the right to food encompasses the right of every individual, without discrimination, to have physical and economic access to food that is adequate in quantity and quality, safe, nutritious, culturally acceptable, and supports a healthy and dignified life.
The fulfilment of this right also includes guarantees for food safety, nutritional adequacy, the sustainability of food resources, and the protection of vulnerable groups.
Komnas HAM has established several principles as benchmarks for fulfilling the right to food, including adequacy, availability, affordability, sustainability, non-discrimination, accessibility, participation, positive affirmation, inclusivity, intersectionality, and progressive realisation.
During the dialogue, the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) committed to integrating these right-to-food principles as monitoring and oversight indicators for the management of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme, while also strengthening internal understanding regarding food rights.
Meanwhile, the National Food Agency (Bapanas) will utilise these principles as oversight indicators for unprocessed food, food consumption diversity, and food safety.
The three agencies also agreed to strengthen data integration to support the monitoring of food safety and the handling of incidents in an objective and transparent manner.
“Komnas HAM, BGN, and Bapanas have also agreed to strengthen data integration to monitor food safety and handle incidents objectively and transparently,” he added.
Komnas HAM expressed hope that the dissemination of the SNP on the Right to Food would not merely end with the completion of the activity, but would continue into the application of these standards as a policy reference for ministries and agencies, thereby delivering a real impact on the fulfilment of public rights.
The SNP on the Right to Food document can be accessed via the Komnas HAM data platform at https://dataham.komnasham.go.id/.