The Social Development Division’s work on food and nutrition security is underpinned, first, by the principles set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, which enshrines food as a fundamental right and calls upon States to ensure food and nutrition security and, second, by the need to address major inequalities in access to food despite its availability in the region, which severely curtail fulfilment of the right to food and prejudice the nutritional status of the population.
The Division’s work in this area has involved analysing the social, economic and cultural factors behind the region’s food and nutrition insecurity, which include inequality, vulnerability, lifecycle issues and demographic shifts, epidemics and nutrition habits. The Division also conducts studies on the related effects and costs, analyses public policies and offers methodological proposals to support decision-making and research.
The projects and information presented here are the work of the Division’s staff and consultants and the fruit of inter-agency collaboration, both within the United Nations system and with ministries, governmental agencies and other public bodies in the countries of the region.