OHRC concludes participation in international conference on food justice

Muscat: A delegation of the Oman Human Rights Commission (OHRC), headed by Professor Dr Rashid bin Hamad Al Balushi, Chairman of the Committee, concluded its participation in the activities of the international conference on “Food Justice” from a human rights perspective, which was held in the Qatari capital, Doha, under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Chairman of the Council, Foreign Minister of Qatar.

 The conference, which the Qatar National Human Rights Committee organised in partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, the United Nations Development Program Office, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the League of Arab States, aimed to provide a global dialogue platform for the exchange of knowledge, experiences, building capacities and reviewing legislation, policies, plans and programs concerned with food justice, and developing frameworks and foundations from which those working in the field of food and human rights can proceed during the conference activities.

The Chairman of the Omani Human Rights Commission chaired the third session of the second day,  He also presented a working paper in which he spoke about the role of national human rights institutions, non-governmental organisations, civil society and stakeholders in implementing the right to food and food justice, according to a human rights-based approach, the role of the Omani Human Rights Commission in cooperating with contractual, non-contractual and regional mechanisms, and developing the role of the committee through monitoring, documentation and writing reports.

The Chairman of the Committee indicated in his paper that the Omani Human Rights Commission monitored the efforts of the Sultanate of Oman in promoting the right to food, as the Sultanate ranked third in the Arab world in the 2022 World Food Security Index report issued by the British magazine the Economist in 2023.

The Committee also monitored the strengthening of the food security system during the past years by opening and establishing many projects in various sectors concerned with agriculture, livestock, fish, and water resources.

Lawyer Maimunah bint Saeed Al Sulaymani, a member of the committee, Suleiman bin Saif Al Kindi, a member of the committee, Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Al Saadi, a member of the committee, and Ahmed bin Nasser Al Rashidi, Director of the Department of Monitoring and Receiving Reports at the Omani Human Rights Commission, participated in the membership of the committee delegation.