Hunger in the third world: Human right behind coercion

“I hate this food, mom”; said Ankit very angrily, “I won’t have it at any cost”; he rushed from table furiously, threw it out off the window and locked himself in a room. Below there, was a small child, named Rishi running hurriedly to eat the chucked food. Doesn’t this situation seem pathetic?

The axiom, “All men are created equal, and everyone has a fundamental right to be free from hunger" turns out to an abstract concept here. Do every people have enough access to food for livelihood?  For sure, the answer is “No”. There are thousands of people like Rishi who are accustomed to the hurled food for living. It is averred that about 21,000 people die globally, every day from hunger or malnutrition, of which most of the victims are children.  What is the reason behind this bane? Why are they deprived of the most basic human right?  Why 98% of the world’s undernourished people are from developing countries?  Isn’t it a serious issue? Of course, yes, it is!

Hunger seems to be voiceless, in the sense it doesn’t attract the media although it has no less tragic implications for its victims. We all know there is disproportionate distribution of resources around the world, dividing single class of humans into two contrary groups: gormandizing hedonists on the one side, and the ones fighting against hunger and craving to mitigate their starving stomach on the other. Food rights are protected under “International human rights and humanitarian” and even recognized  in article 11 of the “International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)”. Also, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger but everyone is not able to feed themselves in dignity resting their rights behind coercion. Experiences shows us markets or governments aren’t protecting access to sufficient and nutritious food for everyone. There is neither food security nor food sovereignty. Only liability by those who produce food and regulate society can mollify the situation installing food needs to be treated just as a policy goal.

Right to food is not about charity but the capacity of every people to feed themselves enough for living. Therefore, it is responsibility of the concerned sectors to ensure every human even from a third world or any part of the world is free from hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.