Safeguarding Human Dignity in the Face of Hunger: Examining the Role of Human Rights Commissions in Global Food Security

सार

This paper examines how national and international human rights commissions (HRCs) can contribute to safeguarding human dignity by addressing hunger and ensuring the right to food. Hunger and food insecurity are not merely developmental challenges but represent fundamental human rights issues intrinsically linked to dignity and the right to life. The analysis adopts a rights-based framework to evaluate the mandates of HRCs, their accountability mechanisms, and the international and domestic standards upon which they rely. Through a comprehensive literature review and selected case studies (South Africa, India, Scotland, and Brazil), the paper explores the ways in which HRCs monitor state obligations, handle grievances, and advocate for policy reforms aimed at securing equitable access to adequate food. The discussion also addresses structural factors that intensify hunger, such as armed conflict, climate change, inequality, and governance failures, and demonstrates how these conditions disproportionately heighten the vulnerability of children, women, refugees, and marginalized communities. The analysis reveals that while human rights commissions perform critical functions in translating international commitments into domestic action, their effectiveness is frequently constrained by limitations including weak enforcement powers, political interference, and inadequate resources. The paper concludes that the realization of the right to food as a justiciable human right, supported by empowered and proactive human rights commissions acting as guardians of this right, remains essential to ensure that no individual is deprived of adequate food, thereby genuinely protecting and promoting human dignity.

Keywords: Global Food Security, climate change, safeguarding, hunger, right to food.