REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE RIGHT TO FOOD, JEAN ZIEGLER, ON HIS MISSION TO BOLIVIA (29 April to 6 May 2007) CONTENTS Paragraphs Introduction ..................................................................................................... I. MALNUTRITION AND FOOD INSECURITY IN BOLIVIA .......... A. The current situation of malnutrition and food insecurity ................................................................................... 6 - 16 B. III. 5 in Bolivia 17 - 24 10 IN BOLIVIA 13 International obligations .............................................................. 25 - 27 13 B. Domestic constitutional and legislative framework ....................... 28 - 32 14 C. Access to justice and human rights institutions ............................. 33 - 34 15 POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR THE RIGHT TO FOOD ................... 35 - 46 16 A. 35 - 41 16 C. V. 6 - 24 A. Government policies and institutions ........................................... B. United Nations specialized agencies and bilateral .................................................................................. 42 - 43 IV. 4 5 Social crisis and recent developments in Bolivia .......................... II. LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE RIGHT TO FOOD ...................................................................................... 25 - 34 1-5 Page assistance 18 Social movements and non-governmental organizations ............... 44 - 46 18 MAIN FINDINGS AND CONCERNS ............................................. 47 - 57 19 A. Progressive realization of the right to food ................................... 47 - 49 19 B. Violations of the right to food ..................................................... 50 - 55 20 C. Obstacles to the realization of the right to food ............................ 56 - 57 22 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................ 58 - 59 23 Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on the right to food visited Bolivia from 29 April to 6 May 2007. He expresses his great appreciation to the Government of Bolivia for the open and cooperative way in which his mission was received. He would like to thank Ambassador Angelica Navarro and her team at the Permanent Mission of Bolivia to the United Nations in Geneva for facilitating his mission. He welcomes the election of Bolivia to the new Human Rights Council and congratulates Bolivia on its cooperation with human rights mechanisms, including Special Rapporteurs. During his visit to Bolivia, he appreciated the help of the United Nations country team, especially Antonio Molpeceres, Resident Coordinator, Elisa Panades, representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Vitoria Ginja, representative of the World Food Programme (WFP). He would also like to thank the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for assistance in organizing the mission. He is also grateful to Ambassador Rafael Dausà Cespedes of Cuba. Finally, he would like to thank the head of the Swiss Development Cooperation in Bolivia, Marco Rossi, and Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Jacques Gremaud of Switzerland for their warm hospitality. 2. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur was honoured to be received by the President of the Republic, Evo Morales Ayma. He greatly benefited from meetings with the Minister for Rural Development and Agriculture, Dr. Susana Rivero, the Minister of Health and Sport, Dr. Nila Heredia, and senior staff of the Ministry of Water, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Head of the National Insitute for Agrarian Reform. He also met with the Vice-President and other members of Bolivia’s Constituent Assembly and appreciated the valuable insights from his meeting with Waldo Albarracin, the Defensor del Pueblo, Bolivia’s human rights ombudsman. 3. The Special Rapporteur also appreciated meetings with a wide range of representatives from social movements, indigenous movements and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Special Rapporteur and his team visited rural communities and urban areas in the departments of La Paz and Oruro, and held meetings, inter alia, with communities in the urban areas of El Alto and miners and peasant communities in Oruro. He would particularly like to thank the non-governmental organizations Centro de Investigación