HRC61 - EU Statement - Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right to food
United Nations Human Rights Council
61st session
Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right to food
5 March 2026
EU statement
Mr President,
The European Union thanks the Special Rapporteur for his report.
Access to land and water underpins livelihoods, dignity, peace and security. When control of land tenure and access to water becomes increasingly concentrated, inequality deepens, and food systems weaken. Such dynamics can ultimately drive hunger, poverty and even starvation, potentially exacerbating wider humanitarian crises and hampering the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
Secure tenure for small-scale producers, women in particular, Indigenous Peoples and fishers is important to realize the right to food. Many countries are currently undergoing a digitalisation process regarding land rights, which means that all rights holders’ effective participation in the process must be guaranteed. These processes should recognise the legal obligations surrounding the right to food and the related policy objectives of food systems transformation, poverty eradication and the SDGs, including sustainable use of land and related resources. Gender equality in access, use and control of land must also be ensured.
The EU human rights-based approach places human rights and tenure rights holders at the centre of development cooperation to ensure that no one is left behind. The “Global Programme Responsible Land Policy” cofinanced by the EU, works to improve land ownership and land use rights in partner countries.
Mr Rapporteur, in the context of land and tenure rights, what actions should States take to strengthen and support rights-based food systems?