Enhancing Equal Access of Children to Adequate Nutritious Food

Calls upon States to respect, protect and fulfil the right of every child to adequate food, and to enhance equal access of all children, without discrimination of any kind, to safe, sufficient, nutritious and culturally acceptable food;

Calls upon States and other stakeholders to combat child malnutrition in all its forms, including by addressing the root causes of food insecurity and malnutrition, removing all barriers, including inequality and discrimination, and taking positive measures that enhance equal access of all children, including children with disabilities, to adequate nutritious food;

Calls upon States to strengthen nutrition interventions for children and women, especially during pregnancy and lactation, and to support exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life of the child, when possible, and continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age and beyond combined with appropriate nutritious complementary feeding;

Also calls upon States to strengthen food security and nutrition and sustainable and resilient local and national food systems in order to secure a sustainable supply of safe, affordable and nutritious food for children and their families and communities, including by supporting smallholder and family farmers, pastoralists and local food producers;

Calls upon States, parties to armed conflicts and relevant actors, as appropriate, to strengthen measures to address the heightened risks of food insecurity and malnutrition faced by children affected by armed conflicts and humanitarian emergencies, including by ensuring and facilitating safe and unhindered humanitarian access to children and other civilians in need, and to respect international human rights law and international humanitarian law;

Calls upon States to promote nutrition education for children, parents, caregivers, educators, health workers and communities, among others, as part of broader efforts to enhance equal access of children to adequate nutritious food, and to raise awareness of the importance of healthy diets, food safety, the nutritional needs of children at different stages of development and responsible food consumption;

Also calls upon States, in accordance with their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to promote the meaningful, safe and inclusive participation of children in the design and evaluation of public policies and programmes, including those affecting their nutrition, with due regard to national priorities and contexts in the implementation of such policies and programmes;

Encourages States to establish, maintain and scale up national school meal programmes, where appropriate in accordance with national contexts and priorities, with a view to ensuring that all schoolchildren have access to adequate nutritious meals in schools, including by paying due attention to children with disabilities, while recognizing the contribution of such programmes to children’s long-term health, well-being, and learning outcomes, increased school enrolment and regular attendance, as well as the prevention of school dropout;

Also encourages States to link school meal programmes and other public food procurement to local food production and supply, including by sourcing from smallholder and family farmers, fisherfolk, cooperatives and micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, thereby strengthening local food supply chains, rural livelihoods and food security and nutrition, while paying due attention to food safety, quality, affordability and sustainable supply;

Further encourages States to integrate child nutrition objectives into national development strategies, and to ensure effective coordination across sectors and levels of governance, while recognizing the essential role of local governments in this regard, with the meaningful participation of communities at the local level;

Encourages States to mobilize and allocate adequate resources for programmes aimed at enhancing equal access of children to adequate nutritious food, in line with their national contexts and priorities;

Urges States to strengthen international cooperation and assistance, including by mobilizing sufficient resources, technical assistance, capacity-building and technology transfer on mutually agreed terms, to address the financial, technical and capacity constraints faced by developing countries in enhancing equal access of children to adequate nutritious food and ending child malnutrition;

Invites States to share best practices and lessons learned on measures taken at the national and local levels to enhance equal access of children to adequate nutritious food, on eliminating obstacles thereto and on its positive impact on the full enjoyment of the rights of the child, with a view to promoting international cooperation, including North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation, as well as technical assistance and capacity-building, in this area;

Encourages States to give due consideration to the enhancement of equal access of children to adequate nutritious food in the framework of the universal periodic review, including in their national reports, voluntary pledges and commitments;

Encourages the relevant treaty bodies and the special procedure mandate holders, within their respective existing mandates, to give due attention to the national efforts in ensuring equal access of children to adequate nutritious food and to provide recommendations aimed at supporting States in enhancing such access for all children, taking into account the respective national contexts and priorities;

Invites the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Food Programme, as well as other relevant United Nations entities, within their respective mandates and available resources, to support States, upon their request and in consultation with them, in the design, implementation and evaluation of relevant national programmes that enhance equal access of children to adequate nutritious food;