United Nations Radio

World leaders attending the food summit in Rome were reminded of their responsibility to confront the current food crisis in ways that respect human rights.

The call came form UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour (photo), who addressed the forum today.

Ms. Arbour observed that food insecurity is often compounded by warfare, bad governance and natural disasters. And, she added, it is evident that at such times, national authorities cannot always be relied on to help those in need.

"Not surprisingly, governments that commit or turn a blind eye to gross violations of human rights are also the most likely to disregard their duties and responsibilities. Long-standing international tolerance for human rights abuses allows both the obstruction of international assistance when a need arises, as well as the hindrance of corrective international effort in the long term."

Ms. Arbour said a human rights-based approach would help in both monitoring and responding to the food crisis.

For UN Radio, I'm Dianne Penn.

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