Archive for year: 2020

Deadline for submission: 19 June 2020

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Poverty/Pages/callCovid19.aspx 

Background

Several Special Procedure mandate holders will focus their forthcoming thematic reports to the United Nations Human Rights Council or the General Assembly on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the enjoyment of human rights. The questionnaire is meant to assist the human rights experts to obtain information and elaborate comprehensive recommendations on the measures taken by national, federal and local governments to protect their population and ensure the enjoyment of human rights, including particular groups at risk of discrimination or social exclusion, such as older persons, persons in situation of homelessness, women, children, persons with disabilities people of African Descent, domestic and migrant workers, LGBT persons, persons subjected to contemporary forms of slavery, and people living in poverty or experiencing poverty as a consequence of the crisis, as well as indigenous peoples¹.

In order to facilitate responding to questions by Special Procedures, a joint questionnaire has been developed including a list of common questions and specific thematic questions responding to information required by participating mandates.

Who should respond to the questionnaire/call for contributions?

The mandate holders invite States, regional and local governments, international and regional organizations, National Human Rights Institutions, equality bodies, and civil society organizations, UN agencies, funds and programmes and other interested stakeholders to share relevant information for their respective reports.

What can be sent?

The mandate holders welcome all relevant contributions and submissions which can be drafted in response to the questions. Reports which have already been drafted on relevant topics may also be submitted for consideration.

How and where to submit inputs

You can download the joint questionnaire here:
WORD: English | French | Spanish

Responses and submissions should be sent to registry@ohchr.org by 19 June 2020. When responding please use the heading: Response to joint questionnaire of special procedures.

In order to facilitate processing and ensure accessibility, submissions in Word format in English, French or Spanish are appreciated. It is kindly requested to limit responses and submissions to 4,500 words and to include hyperlinks to relevant documents, statistical data, public regulations and legislation providing more detailed information.

How inputs will be used

All responses and submissions received in accessible format will be published on the webpages of participating Special Procedures, except if confidentiality of the submission is explicitly requested. Submissions received in non-accessible PDF format will not be published, but will be made available upon request.

For more than two months now, the world has been living in semi-confinement and the world’s economy moving in slow motion due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Both the disease and the measures that are taken to reduce its spread cause disturbances and disruptions in day-to-day food supply mechanisms, which are increasingly felt at all levels. An increase of at least 150 000 child deaths is estimated due to the indirect impacts of COVID-19 in health service delivery and childhood undernutrition[1]. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 135 million people experienced crisis level of acute food insecurity and COVID-19 and related restrictions risk pushing many more into acute hunger (FSIN 2020)[2].

As the pandemic spreads, the points of interaction between people and the food system – their food environments - are changing rapidly and taking on greater importance in everyday life. Lockdowns, policy responses, and COVID-19 itself have the potential to impact on both external and personal food environments, detailed in figure 1.

Figure 1. Possible impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food environments

Consequences range from undernutrition  to overweight/ obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The role of unhealthy diets has been further heightened during the pandemic given people with NCDs are more vulnerable to becoming severely ill and to die from COVID-19.[3]

But what does the evidence tell us is actually happening in practice? Much of the reporting and action related to COVID-19s impact on food environments focuses on external domains which lie largely outside of people’s sphere of influence. To better understand how people are experiencing and adapting to these changes within the personal domains of their food environment, UNSCN conducted an online survey from 15 to 30 April 2020[4] . Convenience sampling was employed which utilized UNSCN’s existing communication networks.

In total 2006 people from 108 countries, in primarily urban settings, responded. Most of them are female (70%) and around half between 25 and 44 years of age. Half of them are working or studying in nutrition, education, government, and health services. Most respondents were from Western Europe and North America (46%), followed by the Asia-Pacific Group (excluding China where surveys in Google forms are prohibited) (30%). Respondents from Africa (15%), Latin America and Caribbean (8%) and from Eastern Europe (1%) were less numerous.

Preliminary results show that survey respondents’ food accessibility altered noticeably and food related daily routines were the most disrupted, after work and social related activities. With strict rules placed on people's personal movement to limit the spread of COVID-19 this is not surprising.

Among food related behavior changes related to food desirability and convenience, 2 out of 3 respondents indicated an increase in food stockpiling, likely linked to the finding that nearly half of all respondents report buying more food out of anxiety. In addition, the large majority of responses indicated facing important accessibility changes at the point of purchase. This included restricted access (81%), physical distancing measures (91%), as well as the availability of information on protective measures (89%) and responsible purchasing (70%) at the point of sale.

Home cooking seems to be the big winner of the crisis with 50% of the respondents indicating an increase in the practice, with the correspondent decrease in eating out, either in restaurants/cafeterias/bars our at family and friend’s places. Among the survey respondents, home cooking and food stockpiling seems to be accompanied by increased awareness of food waste (66%) and the promising indication that this awareness means food is not being wasted more than normally (93%). While the survey did not directly seek information on affordability of food this is an important and sensitive domain as many people around the world are facing increased food insecurity because of reduced income and earning potential. The impacts are most prominent in areas that were already facing food insecurity before the outbreak of COVID-19. Despite the surveys bias with responses from largely higher income countries 8% of respondents reported relying on social protection measures such as food banks, while 17% are relying on alternative sources of food such as personal and community food production.

So what can we learn from this? COVID-19 related changes in food environments reveal the weaknesses in the system and the need for more resilience and sustainability. While great, the current challenges create opportunities. Faced with uncertainties and anxiety, people are searching for direction and reassurances in their food environments. Heightened awareness about our food environments and the foods we consume create a catalyst for change. 

[1] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(20)30229-1/fulltext

[2] GRFC 2020. Global Report on Food Crisis 2020. Available at : https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000114546/download/?_ga=2.126964110.221321867.1589466142-2144737428.1589466142

[3] WHO, 2020. Information note on COVID-19 and NCDs. Available at: https://www.who.int/who-documents-detail/covid-19-and-ncds

[4] UNSCN Questionnaire