Inclusion of Right to Food and Nutrition Security as a Fundamental Right in the Constitution of Pakistan

Nutrition and food security is recognised as a human right in multiple international declarations and treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and the

Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the

Context of National Food Security.

The Constitution of Pakistan only recognises food security as a directive principle of state policy under Article 381, not as a fundamental right of the people of Pakistan. Over the course of the last two decades, the government of Pakistan has overseen considerable constitutional reforms and amendments that have focused on improving overall governance, managing resources, improving the status of women and reforming other areas that affect human development. Legislators have not addressed the issue of nutrition and food security within the legal framework in Pakistan.

Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society Alliance (SUNCSA) Pakistan, under the leadership of the government of Pakistan, has been instrumental in strengthening the overall legislative environment for food- and nutrition-related laws; developing national and provincial policy frameworks as well as networking and linkages between academia, civil society, the media and business fraternities; and forming district committees for addressing malnutrition, among others.

SUNCSA Pakistan has already been advocating at multiple levels – among policymakers and decision-makers, the media and the public – to move food and nutrition security from being a directive principle of policy to a fundamental right in the Constitution of Pakistan. It has made noteworthy achievements in this regard. SUNCSA has successfully mobilised more than 30 parliamentarians from all political parties who are committed to provide legislative support for a constitutional amendment.

SUNCSA will closely follow and advocate with national policymakers to form a special committee on nutrition in the National Assembly of Pakistan. SUNCSA will provide technical support to the committee for finalising an operational definition of food and nutrition security that will be included in the constitutional amendment. The committee will raise the awareness and capacity of parliamentarians on multisectoral nutrition-sensitive policy and legislation, ensuring implementation of nutrition-related policies and programmes. It also will lead the effort to amend the Constitution of Pakistan to make food and nutrition security a fundamental right.