National Right to Food CoP Co-Founder Provides Oral Testimony to the UNHRC on the Right to Food

In Geneva this week, on October 17 and 18, the U.N. Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) is reviewing the U.S. government’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Members of the National Right to Food Community of Practice, together with the Human Rights Clinic of the University of Miami, will be on the ground in Geneva as one of dozens of other U.S. civil society organizations from across the country to petition the U.N. to hold the U.S. government accountable for policies and practices that violate the treaty.

Asst. Professor at WVU Joshua Lohnes, Co-Founder, National Right to Food Community of Practice

In the lead up to the in-person meetings in Geneva, the UNHRC held virtual briefings to hear firsthand testimony reflected in the shadow reports submitted by civil society. At the first on-line briefing held on September 26, NRtF CoP co-founder Joshua Lohnes, Research Assistant Professor of Geography and director of the Food Justice Lab at the Center for Resilient Communities at West Virginia University presented testimony on US violations of the right to food through the lens of civil and political rights. In his brief statement, he called attention to the discriminatory deprivation of access to food that Black, brown, and Indigenous communities face, with a focus on women and children, farmworkers and other food system workers, people experiencing homelessness, and incarcerated people. Read his statement here.

Stay tuned to this blog for the results of the Human Rights Committee’s review of the US and their adherence to the ICCPR.