A Human Rights Based Perspective of Addis Ababa City Administration’s School Feeding Program
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Date
2020
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Addis Ababa
Abstract
SFPs have been considered as an investment in the world’s poorest, children or as ‘savings’ in global stability. As the notion of SFP has been seen from such perspectives for a long time, it seems that the recently introduced SFP in different parts of Ethiopia have been dominated by such perspectives, and the role of the rights-based approach in school feeding is far from being clearly understood. A rights-based approach establishes the child as a subject of law with legitimate claims and access to redress to assert those claims. This study, therefore, aims to examine the practice of SFP by Ethiopia’s government, particularly in Addis Ababa city administration, from a human rights-based perspective to assure a child’s right to food. The study strongly focuses, whether the legal and institutional frameworks that have just been formulated to implement the program help in the promotion of the right to food other than being an emergency or safety net program.
Therefore the study concluded, what is missing from the Addis Ababa school feeding program is, the fact that it is not backed by the right based approach. And as discussed, the role of School feeding in the realization of human rights to food could be highly significant when such programs are approached from the perspective of the rights-based approach as the approach advocates the principles of accountability, participation, transparency, and non-discrimination. As the program has brought visible impact in the improvement of children’s nutrition, health, and education quality, it would bring a lot more positive effect if implemented appropriately from a child right perspective in the City and Nationwide as well.
And finally the study recommends, the Addis Ababa City Government SFP has to be transformed to the level of accepting right based approach, to which the right to food is the centre of assessment. The government should not see the program as a mare charity project but should recognize it as an entitlement; a human right to food, for which children can claim their right through and the government could be held accountable for. This would also allow children to have legal recourse and seek redress when their right to adequate food is violated, through administrative and judicial processes at the national level, as well as through the complaints mechanisms available under child rights treaties.