The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) meeting at its 16th Extraordinary Session held from 20 to 29 July 2014 in Kigali, Rwanda;
Recalling its mandate to promote and protect human and peoples’ rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter);
Recalling the obligations of the Government of Somalia under regional and international human rights instruments;
Considering the importance of the right to food which is implicitly included in the right to life and the right to health guaranteed in Articles 4 and 16 respectively of the African Charter;
Further considering that the enjoyment of the right to life and the right to health can only be attained if the right to food is guaranteed;
Recalling that AU Member States undertook to adopt legislative and other measures to give effect to the rights guaranteed by the African Charter;
Further recalling that all individuals are entitled to enjoy all the rights guaranteed by the African Charter;
Recalling that the issue of agriculture and food security is a fundamental issue for the African Union and that it was discussed during the 22nd and 23rd Summits of the African Union;
Mindful that sufficient food has to be acceptable, available, accessible and nutritionally adequate and healthy in accordance with General Comment No. 11 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
Considering that States Parties to the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (the Kampala Convention) undertook, under Article 5 of the Convention, to cooperate in protecting and assisting internally displaced persons;
Considering the press release of the 2009 AU Extraordinary Summit recalling that the Kampala Convention tasks the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Internally Displaced Persons and Migrants in Africa with monitoring compliance with the Convention and ensuring the protection of the rights of displaced persons;
Concerned by the alert put out by several United Nations agencies and NGOs to inform about the early warning and alarming signs of a food crisis towards preventing Somalia from experiencing a similar food crisis like the one that affected the country in 2011;
Concerned by the lack of rapid and appropriate response to this warning at a time when there are already signs of a drought and increase in food prices;
Further concerned by the humanitarian situation of thousands of people, in particular the situation of malnutrition among children in camps for displaced persons;
The Commission:
Welcomes the measures taken and the efforts of United Nations specialized agencies and some NGOs to prevent and combat famine in several regions of Somalia, in particular areas affected by the activities of armed groups;
Urges the Somali authorities to take the necessary measures to address the crisis and achieve self-sufficiency and food security;
Further urges the warring parties to open humanitarian corridors to enable the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population;
Calls on the international community and all African Union Member States to take the necessary measures to assist people affected by famine and those at risk;
Further calls on the African Union to strengthen its cooperation with the international community towards a comprehensive strategy for gathering the necessary funds to prevent another humanitarian crisis in Somalia caused by drought and the unstable security situation;
Calls on the Government of Somalia to expedite its ratification of the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa.
Done at the 16th Extraordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights held from 20 to 29 July 2014 in Kigali, Rwanda
