A panel of four retired jurists has said that the rising food prices are denying the right to adequate food to the poorest in Pakistan besides provoking hunger, malnutrition and social unrest across the country. They unanimously held government responsible for bad food governance in the country and recommended improvements.
The jury of Pakistan’s first “Peoples’ Tribunal on Impact of Food Prices” was headed by Supreme Court former senior judge Justice (r) Fakhrunnisa Khokhar with Justice (r) Nazir Gazi, former law minister Barrister Shahida Jamil and former additional attorney general of Pakistan Khalid Habib as members.
The tribunal also had learned expert panellists including Dr Aslam Shaheen from Planning Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan Agriculture Research Centre (PARC) Chairman Dr Iftkhar, National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC) DG Dr Azeem, Research Punjab DG Dr Noor Islam, Extension Punjab DG Dr Anjum Ali, UNICEF Dr Wisal Khan, Khadim Hussain Shah of United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP), Nasar Hayat of UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO), Shahbaz Bokhari of Oxfam, Dr Wajid Pirzada of SAFWCO Foundation, USAID-PEEP Chief Junaid and Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) former president Dr Shimail.
The tribunal was held jointly by Action against Hunger and Malnutrition-Pakistan, Society for Conservation and Protection of Environment and Oxfam Pakistan. Its objective was to highlight issues of poor, especially women and children, relating to their access to food on affordable prices and to brainstorm on impact of food prices on food security and nutrition among poor communities in the country.
The event was attended by masses, right activists, lawyers, judges as well as representatives from civil society and media. Mufti Irfan of South Asia Partnership-Pakistan moderated the day-long court proceedings.
Before an audience of around 200 people, the distinguished panel of retired judges heard presentations on four cases regarding community issues related to access to food. During case presentations, presenters also noted violations of the Constitution of Pakistan. After a full day of hearing and proceedings, the tribunal took the unanimous decision to admit all cases and recommended that cases to be followed by the government in order to protect right to food of people.
The tribunal specified that the victims in these cases are the poorest community members, especially women and children, who are yet deprived of their right to adequate food.
Tanveer Arif of SCOPE, initiated the proceedings with a brief introduction of AAHM-Pakistan and highlighted the importance of right to food of the poor in Pakistan.
Oxfam GROW Manager Shahbaz Bokhari in his concluding remarks termed the event as a “significant milestone” with regard to right to food of the “poorest in Pakistan”.
“The dreams of food security and health for all would remain a farce until the necessary food items are not provided at affordable prices in the market,” he said.
Earlier, Qaiser Arafat of Oxfam introduced the GROW Campaign.
“GROW is a worldwide campaign of Oxfam which is focusing on food security, climate resilience and empowerment of small holders and landless farmers. In Pakistan, GROW is supporting AAHM-Pakistan and all other alliances to eliminate hunger and malnutrition from the country,” he said.
Justice (r) Fakhrunnisa said that food insecurity had become one of the major problems in Pakistan and the government had its constitutional obligation to address and invest in the food sector and ensure food security of its populace. She commended efforts of civil society on their research, advocacy and mobilisation services for the food security and asked the government institutions to take on their support for the betterment of people.
Barrister Shahida said that women are more vulnerable to unstable food prices and food insecurity as compared to men and children in the rural areas of Pakistan.
“Women have significant contribution to agricultural production and household food security but poor rural women have the least access to basic needs such as food, health and education,” she said.
Justice (r) Nazir agreed that food insecurity is on the rise and millions of people fail to find adequate food and nutritious intake especially because of high food prices.
