Human Rights Council
Sixteenth session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development
Summary
The present report presents the findings and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food from his country visit to the Syrian Arab Republic from 29 August to 7 September 2010.
The visit took place in a particularly challenging context, characterized by the fourth consecutive year of drought in the north-eastern region, the presence of a large number of Iraqi refugees and the transition from a centrally planned to a social market economy. In the report, the Special Rapporteur makes a general assessment of the enjoyment of the right to food in the Syrian Arab Republic, an overview of the challenges posed by drought and climate change and of the enjoyment of the right to food by specific groups, and a right-tofood analysis of the challenges faced by the Government in its transition to a social market economy. He concludes the report with recommendations addressed to the Government and the international community.