Nepal Law Commission, with the technical support of FAO, organized a meeting on sharing the draft report of “Formulation of Right to Food Legislation: Conceptual Study Report, 2016” in Kathmandu today.

Twenty-five high ranking officials representing various agencies of the Government of Nepal including the Office of the President, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD), Ministry of Livestock Development (MoLD), Nepal Law Commission (NLC), Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and office of the Attorney-General participated in the meeting presided over by MadhavPoudel, Chairperson of Nepal Law Commission (NLC).

Chairperson Poudel underlined the need of the Right to Food legislation that ensures the implementation of the Constitutional guarantee and would honor in practice the international legal obligation. He said that the experts’ views would be considered in giving the final shape of the draft of the Bill on the Right to Food.

Bhesh Raj Sharma, Vice Chairman of the NLC, made a brief presentation on the activities jointly undertaken by the NLC and FAO towards formulation of concept paper on Right to Food Legislation in Nepal. He highlighted on the field studies made by the joint team of NLC and FAO in the remote areas of Karnali Zone in the Mid-Western Region of Nepal where the acute food shortage was reported during the draught from time to time. He also informed the meeting about the consultation with the international experts.

He said that the study visit of a 9-member team of the Right to Food Bill Drafting Committee to Bangladesh was fruitful to understand the legal provision on the Right to Food that country. The team led by the Vice Chairperson Sharma called on dignitaries of Bangladesh including Speaker Dr Shirin SharminChaudhury, Minister of Agriculture Matia Chowdhury and Minster of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister AnisulHuq. Food security and people’s rights to foods were widely discussed in the meeting. Besides, civic rights, political rights, health and education came up for discussion. Bangladesh has been able to have food surplus due to various policies taken for the food security by the government.

Summing up his presentation, Vice Chairperson Sharma expressed his gratitude for the support of FAO extended to Nepal Law Commission.

Advocate Raju Chapagain, Consultant to FAO Nepal, has made a comprehensive presentation on the status of the concept Conceptual Study Report on Formulation Of Right to Food Legislation.

Participating in the discussion, KamalshaliGhimire, Secretary at OPMCM, Bhupendra Prasad Poudel, Secretary at Office of the President, Krishna Chandra Poudel, Secretary at MoLD, Durga Prasad Arya, Member of NLC, BijayaLaxmiAryal, Member of NLC, Mani Ram Ojha, Secretary at TLC, Dr Ravi Sharma Aryal, Acting Secretary at NLC, Khaga Raj Poudel, Deputy Attorney-General, Vijay Kant Jha, Joint Secretary at MoLD, and Ishwar Prasad Rijal, Joint Secretary at MoAD made suggestions to make the concept paper more comprehensive.