Promoting Healthy Diets Through Legal Empowerment and Social Accountability

  • December 23, 2020
  • Posted by: cefrohtadmin
  • Categories: Advocacy, News Updates
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CEFROHT Implements Global RECAP Initiative Supported by IDLO

The Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT) is implementing a Global RECAP project, supported by the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), titled “Promoting Healthy Diets Through Legal Empowerment and Social Accountability Mechanisms Using a Human Rights-Based, Participatory, and Multi-Sectoral Approach.”

The project aims to strengthen multi-stakeholder partnerships by establishing a collaborative body to advocate for healthy diet reforms and hold duty bearers accountable through targeted advocacy initiatives.

Advocacy Working Group Formed

To achieve its objectives, an Advocacy Working Group (AWG) has been established, comprising representatives from government, civil society organizations (CSOs), media, academia, and the public. This coalition will work collectively to foster an enabling environment for regulatory and fiscal measures that promote healthier diets, ensuring a unified voice in policy engagement.

Project Goals and Outcomes

The overarching goal is to create an environment conducive to policies that support healthy diets by fostering cross-sector collaboration and community engagement.

Key Outcomes Include:

  • Strengthened human rights-based advocacy and community education to support regulatory measures for healthy diets.
  • Enhanced multi-stakeholder coordination to advocate for reforms and hold authorities accountable.
  • Increased public and institutional awareness of legal and policy strategies for healthier diets through capacity building.

Two-Pronged Approach

  1. Social Accountability: Strengthening partnerships among government, CSOs, academia, and communities to advocate for reforms.
  2. Legal Empowerment: Building the capacity of CSOs and communities to engage in social accountability initiatives.

Key Outputs

  1. Stronger multi-sectoral partnerships to advocate for healthy diet policies.
  2. Increased awareness among CSOs, media, academics, and communities on legal strategies for promoting healthy diets.

Target Beneficiaries

  • Policymakers: Encouraged to adopt nutrition labeling, marketing restrictions, and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes.
  • Media Practitioners: Trained on reporting and advocating for healthy diet policies.
  • CSOs: Empowered with legal and social accountability tools to drive legislative reforms.
  • Uganda Law Society-Food and Nutrition Coalition (ULS-FNC): Enhanced knowledge on legal measures for healthy diets.
  • Children: Protected from aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods, reducing non-communicable disease (NCD) risks.

The project underscores the urgent need for coordinated action to promote healthier diets and curb rising NCD rates, particularly among vulnerable populations. Through legal empowerment and social accountability, CEFROHT aims to drive sustainable policy changes for better public health outcomes.