Animal welfare included in UN Agricultural Investments Principles
For the first time, animal welfare has appeared in a United Nations (UN) agreed text
The UN Committee on World Food Security has included language about the welfare of farm animals, in its ‘Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investments’.
The inclusion of ‘animal welfare’ in the UN’s principles should ensure that animals are not forgotten and help guide agriculture investments to have a greater focus on animal protection. Supporting better animal welfare will help to increase productivity in a sustainable way and contribute to product quality and food safety.
This positive step is unfortunately overshadowed by concerns among civil society organizations that the principles fall short of internationally recognized human rights standards. There are also concerns that the principles fail to represent the interests of the most important investors in agriculture and food systems: small scale producers and workers.
For these reasons, civil society organizations fear the principles may be used to legitimize irresponsible investments. They call on the UN to accept responsibility for monitoring what is done in relation to the principles.
We at World Animal Protection will remain committed to ensuring that animal welfare is included in debates on sustainable agriculture and food security. We will monitor how the RAI principles are used for responsible investments and help to advance animal welfare.
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