Join the call

for international guidance on human rights and healthy diets

In October 2019, 180 leaders in global health and development made a call on Tedros Adhanom, Director General of the World Health Organization, and Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to lead the development of human rights guidance on healthy diets and sustainable food systems.

‍Published in the BMJ, the call requests the initiation of a process to develop guidance on human rights and healthy diets and outlines why a human rights approach to healthy diets is sorely needed to advance action on NCDs and health.

To support the realization of this call, the signatories have proposed a set of guiding documents.

Show your support for the call by adding your signature. Join the conversation by participating in our public forum which aims to provide a platform for discussion and debate about the call and explore the next steps required for its realization.

JOIN THE CALL

VIEW THE GUIDING DOCUMENTS

SIGNATORIES TO THE BMJ OPINION CALLING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDANCE ON human rights AND healthy diets

Kent Buse

PhD, Chief, Strategic Policy Directions, UNAIDS, Geneva, Switzerland

David Patterson

LLM, Global Health Law Groningen Research Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Groningen, Netherlands

Roger Magnusson

PhD, Professor of Health Law and Governance, Sydney Law School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Brigit Toebes

PhD, Professor, Health Law in a Global Context, Global Health Law Groningen Research Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Groningen, Netherlands

Seye Abimbola

PhD, Research Fellow, School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Australia; Editor-in-Chief, BMJ Global Health

Obijiofor Aginam

PhD, Deputy Director & Head, Governance for Global Health, United Nations University International Institute for Global Health, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kate Allen

PhD, Executive Director, Science and Public Affairs, World Cancer Research Fund International, London, UK

Luke Allen

MPH, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Joe Amon

PhD, Director of Global Health, Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health, Philadelphia, USA

Bård A. Andreassen

Dr. polit, Professor, Norwegian Center for Human Rights, University of Oslo, Norway

Hajer Aounallah-Skhiri

PhD, Head of the National Health Institute, Ministry of Health; Professor of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia

John Ashton CBE

former President, Faculty of Public Health, Royal College of Physicians, UK

Phillip Baker

PhD, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

Simón Barquera

PhD, Director, Research Center in Nutrition and Health, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

Ollie Bartlett

PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Maynooth University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland

Fran Baum AO

PhD, Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia; Chair, Advisory Committee of the People’s Health Movement

Stéphane Besançon

MSc, CEO NGO Santé Diabète, Bamako, Mali

Bettina Borisch

MD, MPH, Professor, Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva; Executive Director, World Federation of Public Health Associations, Geneva, Switzerland

Ana Paula Bortoletto

PhD, Leader, Healthy Diets Program, Brazilian Institute for Consumers’ Protection (IDEC), Brazil

Hannah Brinsden

BSc, Deputy Director of Policy, World Obesity Federation, London, UK

Claire Brolan

PhD, Centre for Policy Futures, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Jesse B. Bump

PhD, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA, USA

Scott Burris

JD, Professor and Director, Center for Public Health Law Research, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Gian Luca Burci

JD, Adjunct Professor of International Law, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland

Oscar A. Cabrera

LLM, Director, Healthy Families Initiative, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University; Visiting Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, USA

Alejandro Calvillo Unna

BA, Founder and Director, El Poder del Consumidor, Mexico City, Mexico

Simon Capewell

DSc, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, Institute of Population Health Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK

Martin Caraher

PhD, Professor of Food and Health Policy, Centre for Food Policy, School of Health Sciences, City, University of London, UK

José Luis Castro

MPA, FRSA, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vital Strategies, New York City, NY, USA

Katharina Ó Cathaoir

PhD, Assistant Professor of Health Law, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Frank J. Chaloupka

PhD, Distinguished Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois, USA

Danwood Chirwa

PhD, Dean of Law, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Sohel Reza Choudhury

PhD, National Heart Foundation Hospital & Research Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Rt Hon Helen Clark

MA(Hons), Patron, The Helen Clark Foundation, Auckland, New Zealand

Michaela Clayton

BA LLB, Director, AIDS & Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), Windhoek, Namibia, and co-chair of the UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV and Human Rights

Jeff Collin

PhD, Professor of Global Health Policy, Global Health Policy Unit, University of Edinburgh, UK

Liane Comeau

PhD, Executive Director, International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE), St Maurice, France

Joanne Csete

PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, NY, USA

Katie Dain

MSc, Executive Director, NCD Alliance, London, UK

Sueli G. Dallari

PhD, Professor of Health Law, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Mike Daube AO

Hon DSci, Emeritus Professor, Curtin University, Perth, Australia

Ames Dhai

PhD, Director, Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Evelyne de Leeuw

PhD, Centre for Health Equity Training, Research & Evaluation (CHETRE), University of New South Wales, Australia

Olivier De Schutter

former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food (2008-2014) and co-chair, International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food); Professor, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium

Sandro Demaio

PhD, Chief Executive Officer, VicHealth (Victorian Health Promotion Foundation), Carlton, Victoria, Australia

Mandeep Dhaliwal

MD, LLB, HIV, Health & Development Group, UNDP, New York, NY, USA

Elizabeth Dowler

PhD, Professor Food & Social Policy, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

Asbjørn Eide

PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of Oslo, and former UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate food, Oslo, Norway

Wenche Barth Eide

Wenche Barth Eide, Cand. real., Coordinator, Food, Human Rights and Corporations Research and Action Network (FoHRC) at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, and Emerita, Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway

Jalila El Ati

PhD, Professor, National Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, Tunis, Tunisia

Hilal Elver

SJD, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food (2014-); Global Distinguished Fellow, Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy, University of California Los Angeles Law School, USA

Richard Elliott

LLM, Executive Director, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Toronto, Canada

Andrea Feigl

PhD, CEO and founder, Health Finance Institute; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA, USA

Nicole D. Foster

LLM, Attorney-at-Law and Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados

Peter Friberg

MD, PhD, Executive Director, Swedish Institute for Global Health Transformation (SIGHT), The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, and Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gotenburg, Sweden

Nicholas Freudenberg

DrPH, Distinguished Professor of Public Health and Director CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

Sharon Friel

PhD, Professor of Health Equity and Director, School of Regulation and Global Governance, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

Eric A. Friedman

JD, O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, USA

Timothy Gill

PhD, Professor of Public Health Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Stuart Gillespie

PhD, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA

Shifalika Goenka

PhD, Professor and Head, Bioethics, Public Health Foundation of India and Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi, India

Unni Gopinathan

MD, PhD, Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, Institute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo & Cluster for Global Health, Division of Health Services, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

Lawrence O. Gostin

JD, University Professor, Georgetown University, and Faculty Director, O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, USA

Jose Graziano da Silva

retired Professor, University of Campinas, Brazil; former Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Sofia Gruskin

JD, Professor, Keck School of Medicine and Gould School of Law; Director, Institute on Inequalities in Global Health, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA

Jody Harris

PhD, Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK

Lawrence Haddad

PhD, Executive Director, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Geneva, Switzerland

Mette Hartlev

PhD, LLD, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Sir Trevor Hassell

MBBS, President of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, Chairman of the Barbados National NCD Commission, Barbados

Gerard Hastings

PhD, OBE, Professor Emeritus, Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland

Marie Hauerslev

MD, Chair, NCD Child, USA

Corinna Hawkes

PhD, Director, Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London, UK

Sarah Hawkes

PhD, Director, Centre for Gender and Global Health, University College London, UK

Mark J Heywood

BA, social justice activist; Co-founder and Board Member, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Johannesburg, South Africa

Steven J. Hoffman

JD, PhD, Director, Global Strategy Lab, and Professor of Global Health, Law and Political Science, York University, Toronto, Canada

Claudia Hudspeth

MD, MSc, MSt, Global lead, Health and Nutrition, Aga Khan Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland

Paul Hunt

PhD, Chief, Human Rights Commission, Wellington, New Zealand; former UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (2002-2008)

Romaina Iqbal

PhD, Departments of Community Health Sciences and Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan

Alexandrina Iovita

PhD, MPH, Human Rights Technical Advisor, Community, Rights and Gender Department, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Geneva, Switzerland

Robin Ireland

MPH, Director of Research (Honorary), Health Equalities Group, Liverpool, UK

Per Ole Iversen

MD, Professor, Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Norway

Stella Iwuagwu

PhD, Centre for the Right to Health, Abuja, Nigeria

Tazeen H. Jafar

MD MPH, Professor, Program in Health Services & Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore

Patrícia Constante Jaime

ScD, Department of Nutrition, School of Public of Health, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Bill Jeffery

BA, LLB, Executive Director, Centre for Health Science and Law and editor, Food for Life Report, Canada

Paula Johns

MSC (Development Studies), Director General, ACT Health Promotion, São Paulo, Brazil

Hope Johnson

PhD, Lecturer, Faculty of Law and the Institute for Future Environments, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

Sonali Johnson

PhD, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), Geneva, Switzerland

Peris Jones

PhD, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

David Kabanda

Executive Director, Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT), Kampala, Uganda

Ichiro Kawachi

PhD, John L. Loeb & Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Social Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA, USA

George Kent

PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii, Hawaii, USA

The Hon. Michael Kirby

LLM, Member of the WHO Global Commission on AIDS (1998-2002); chair of the Second International Consultation on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights (1996); member of the UNDP Global Commission on HIV and the Law (2011-12); member of the UNSG's High-Level Panel on Access to Essential Healthcare (2014-15); and member of the UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV and Human Rights (2004), Sydney, Australia

Olav Kjørven

MA, Chief Strategy Officer of EAT, former ASG and Norwegian State Secretary for Development, Oslo, Norway

Harriet Kuhnlein

PhD, Emerita Professor, School of Human Nutrition and Founding Director, Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment (CINE), McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Mary R. L’Abbe

CM, PhD, Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences, and Director, WHO Collaborating Centre in Nutrition Policy for Chronic Disease Prevention, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Ronald Labonté

PhD, FCAHS, Distinguished Research Chair, University of Ottawa, Canada

Tim Lang

PhD, Professor of Food Policy, Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London, UK

Helena Leurent

Director-General, Consumers International, MBA, London, UK

Mark A. Lawrence

PhD, Professor of Public Health Nutrition, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

Show your support by adding your name to the list of public signatories. Below is the list of signatures from the public since the publication of the call.

additional signatures calling for the DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDANCE ON human rights AND healthy diets

Sharmila Mhatre

Deputy Director

Open Society Foundations

FRANK ATEGEKA

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

RURAL AID FOUNDATION

Cosmas Rongoti

Director

Shanduko Yeupenyu Child Care

Tunde Fakunle

Executive Director

Centre for Sustainable Access to Health in Africa

AKWETEIREHO AMIRI

CEO

KAPOTEC FOUNDATION UGANDA

Paul Tschurtschenthaler

Senior Relationship Manager

Fairmed

Public Health Update

Initiator

Public Health Update

Miguel Ángel Royo Bordonada

Professor

Spanish National School of Public Health

Shiv Chandra Mathur

Independent consultant

Public Health

Carolina Mejia Toro

RD, Master Student MA Human Rights and Governance

Univesity of Padova

Abigail Derkyi-Kwarteng

Senior Resident

Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons

Neethi V Rao

Research Fellow

Azim Premji University

Abigail Derkyi-Kwarteng

Senior Resident

Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons

Dr. Khaleda Islam

Advisor

ARK Foundation

MATHIEU TCHETCHE

HEALTH SOCIOLOGIST, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

UNIVERSITY ALASSANE OUATTARA-BOUAKE

Mohamed Lafi

Public Information and Advocacy Officer

WHO

Godfrey Philimon

Country Coordinator

People's Health Movement Tanzania (PHM Tanzania)

Taufique Joarder

Executive Director

Public Health Foundation, Bangladesh

Diaka Jules Alexis

Focal Point Iristick/Smart Glasses

Memisa Belgique

Gillian MacNaughton

JD, DPhil, Associate Professor of Human Rights

School for Global Inclusion and Social Development, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA

Monica Kinyanjui

Founder

Women for Dementia Africa

Francesca Riolo

Scientific Officer

European Food Safety Authority

Judith Bueno de Mesquita

Deputy Director

Human Rights Centre, University of Essex

Joy Parkinson

PhD, Research Director, Social Marketing @ Griffith, Griffith Business School

Griffith University, Australia

Citta Widagdo

Doctoral Researcher

University of Birmingham

Dr Vincent Okungu

Senior Lecturer

University of Nairobi

Fiona McKenzie

Program Manager

QCWA Country Kitchens

Rachel J Thompson

Policy fellow

World Obesity Federation

Jeffrey O'Malley

Adjunct Professor

University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine

Peter Delobelle

Senior Researcher

Chronic Disease Initiative for Africa

Minakshi Dahal

Research Officer

Center for Research on Environment Health and Population Activities (CREHPA)

Nalini Saligram, Ph.D.

Founder & CEO

Arogya World

Emmy Fuentes

Epidemiologa

Issste

Jessie Pullar

Nutrition and NCD Consultant

United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition

Matthew Hopcraft BDSc MDSc BA PhD

Associate Professor

Melbourne Dental School, The University of Melbourne, Australia; SugarFree Smiles, Melbourne, Australia

Jesús Angel Padilla Gámez

Catedrático en Nutrición Clínica

Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila

Isobel Stanley

Researcher, public health

University College Dublin

Maria Aurora Mejia Benitez

Scientific Researcher

University

Meri Koivusalo

Professor of Global Health and Development

Tampere University

Jordan Jarvis

DrPH Student

LSHTM

Kate Sheffer

Forum Programme Manager

NCD Alliance

Alex Godoy-Faúndez

Associate Professor

Universidad del Desarrollo

Sinead Boylan

Research Fellow

The University of Sydney

Joyce Haddad

Dietitian

A Dietitian's Mission

Ana Victoria Mmonreal Lugo

Ana Karen Juárez

Dietitian

Karenutri

Patricio V Márquez

Lead Public Health Specialist (retired)

World Bank Group (retired)

Eduardo Thébar Gómez

Professor

Autonomous University of Guerrero

Ibeth Johanna Garcés Ruiz

Salubrista

Profesional de salud Independiente

Paula Izazil Juárez

Nutriologa

Tu equilibrio

Karla Elizabeth Flores Guzmán

Student

UNAM

María del Carmen Gangotena

Director

Nutrición Consciente

Kattya Brenes Gutiérrez

Jefe Area Técnica

CEN-CINAI

Leonardo Javier Salvador Del Águila

Dietista-Nutricionista

WeDoctor

José Carrillo

Director

Centro de Medicina Regenerativa Querétaro AC

Laura Patricia Arellano Gómez

Director

ITESO

Guadalupe Ruiz Vivanco

Professor

BUAP, Faculty of Medicine

Kaveri Qureshi

Lecturer in Global Health Equity

University of Edinburgh

Kashmira Sher Ali Nanji

Self

Epidemiologist/Biostatistician

Dr Rosemary Stanton OAM

Visiting Fellow, School of Medical Sciences

University of New South Wales, Australia

Alexandra Jones

Research Fellow (Food Policy and Law)

The George Institute for Global Health

Sérgio Filipe Soares Pedro

Member Department of Ecology and Society

Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Coimbra

Patricio V Marquez

Lead Public Health Specialist (retired)

World Bank Group

Andrew Thorne-Lyman

Associate Scientist

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Mariana Rodriguez

Student

CENTROGEO

Adrian French

Member

Cambridge Commons

Noemi Leyva Duarte

Nutrióloga

Nutriologa

Maria Shinai Cabanas Rodriguez

Academic

Maria Shinai Cabañas Rodriguez / México, Puebla, Teziutlan

Kirsteen Shields

Assistant Professor

University of Edinburgh

Dulce

MIEMBRO

Slow Food

Catalina A. Denman

Academic

El Colegio de Sonora

Evelia Apolinar Jiménez

Clinical Researcher

Regional High Speciality Hospital of Bajío

Marly Augusto Cardoso

Professor of Nutritional Epidemiology and Public Health

University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Dirce Maria Lobo Marchioni

Associate Professor

University of Sao Paulo

Rosana Nogueira

Nutricionista

Universidade de São Paulo

Serena Pepino

Right to Food Policy Expert

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Kristine Onarheim PhD

Research Fellow

University College London

Immanuel Azaad Moonesar PhD, RD

Associate Professor- Health Administration & Policy

Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, Dubai, UAE

Rafael Almendra-Pegueros

Research Assistance

Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosi

Vivica Kraak, PhD, RDN

Co-author, Lancet Global Syndemic report and Assistant Professor of Food and Nutrition Policy

Dept of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

Aydin Nazmi

Professor

California Polytechnic State University

Elena Leticia Peraza Covarrubias

Nutritionist

Centro de Investigación y Gastroenterología

Alejandra Armenta Espinosa

Member Research Ethics Committee

INCMNSZ

Mathilde Høgh Prestbakmo

MA Student Public Health Nutrition

OsloMet

Oscar Alexis Estrada Gómez

Student

Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública

Stefanie Vandevijvere

Scientist

Scientific Institute of Public Health

Michelle Haby

Professor

University of Sonora

Maria Isabel Valero Morales

Research assistant

Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica México

Anna Purdie

Programme Manager

Global Health 50/50, UCL Centre for Gender and Global Health

Anne Lene Løvhaug

M.Sc. Public Health Nutrition

Oslo Metropolitan University

Denise Costa Coitinho Delmue

Senior consultant on nutrition and food systems

UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

James Uhrig

Independent Consultant

Eftychia Kotronia

PhD

Newcastle University

Priscila Machado

Research Fellow

Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University

Dr Sarah Gerritsen

Research Fellow

University of Auckland

Charlotte Marchandise

Deputy Mayor / President

City of Rennes / WHO Healthy Cities Network

Lucinda Westerman

Policy and Campaigns Manager

NCD Alliance

Kristof Decoster

Editor International Health Policies newsletter

ITM

Helen Walls

Associate Professor

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Aaron Schwid

Director of Public Health Law

Vital Strategies