UN expert heads to Brazil to examine vulnerable populations’ access to food

A United Nations human rights expert on the right to food today began an official trip to Brazil, where he has meetings scheduled with senior government officials and will examine access by the country’s vulnerable groups to adequate nutrition.

Jean Ziegler, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, will use his three-week fact-finding mission to investigate issues related to access to food, land and drinking water by vulnerable groups – “children, women, indigenous peoples, Black Brazilians and the handicapped and the elderly,” according to a statement released in Geneva.

Mr. Ziegler will meet in Brasilia with the country’s President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, as well as with members of the Federal Government and representatives of the Judiciary and Parliament. He will also meet representatives of UN agencies based in Brazil, along with members of civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in human rights.

In addition, the Special Rapporteur, who is in Brazil at the invitation of the country’s Government, is scheduled to meet state authorities and civil society representatives in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Pernambuco, Maranhão and Bahia, including during visits to asentamentos (settlements), acampamentos (camps), favelas (slums) and detention centres.