Nevertheless, the CESCR has yet to specifically define the notion of an adequate standard of
living, leaving to States a certain margin of appreciation in its concrete definition and
application. Some suggest that the right to an adequate standard of living should encompass
the “basic needs” of an individual, which have been defined as follows:
First, they include certain minimum requirements of a family for private
consumption: adequate food, shelter and clothing, as well as certain household
equipment and furniture. Second, they include essential services provided by and for
the community at large, such as safe drinking water, sanitation, public transport and
health, educational and cultural facilities.188
In this way, the right to an adequate standard of living may be interpreted so as to address
concerns that do not fall under the ambit of other Covenant rights.
The Right to Adequate Food
The right to adequate food is protected by virtue of Article 11(1) of the ICESCR as an
element of the right to an adequate standard of living. It is also explicitly mentioned under
the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as well as implied in provisions on an adequate standard
of living in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination (ICERD).189 In addition, Article 11(2) of the ICESCR enshrines the
right to be free from hunger and malnutrition.
Freedom from hunger implies a right to freedom from starvation. It is thus intimately
connected to the right to life and, for this reason, it is the only right in the ICESCR to be
termed “fundamental.” The right to be free from hunger requires States to take necessary
action to alleviate hunger, even in times of disaster.190 The right to adequate food on the
other hand is a broader concept, which extends beyond basic needs for survival. The
CESCR has affirmed that the right to adequate food “is indivisibly linked to the inherent
dignity of the human person and is indispensable for the fulfilment of other human
rights.”191 The CESCR has also recognised the inter-dependence between the right to food
and the environment, stating that the right to adequate food requires “the adoption of
appropriate economic, environmental and social policies, at both the national and
international levels, oriented to the eradication of poverty and the fulfilment of all human
rights for all.”192
The CESCR has specified that the full realization of the right to adequate food entails that
“every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, has physical and
economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement.”193 In this
regard, the CESCR has insisted on the importance of four related notions – availability,
adequacy, accessibility and sustainability – defining the core content of the right to adequate
food as implying the availability of adequate food194 accessible to all individuals under the
jurisdiction of a State.195
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