The right to adequate food is recognized in international legal instruments including declarations, which are nonbinding and conventions, which are treaties that carry the force of the law. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1979 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 state that states and non-state actors have responsibilities in fulfilling the right to food.

While it is first and foremost the duty of individuals to find their own solutions to feeding themselves, it is the state’s obligation to respect the freedom of individuals in realizing and protect their rights. Refugees and displaced people have the same human right to food as do non-refugees. Deliberate starvation or destruction of livelihoods such as production of crops and livestock as a war strategy is a violation of international law. Marginalized populations are vulnerable to food insecurity because of poverty. If the actions of individuals and of the state fail, the state must proactively take action, which might be economic support or the provision of direct food aid as a last resort to those who are unable to feed themselves.

Post-graduate Diploma in Food Security enhances learners’ abilities to manage food security programs within governmental, non-governmental, and multilateral organization. The course is appropriate for health service providers, disaster response workers, relief agency staff, public health practitioners, nurses, national ministries of health in countries that are regularly affected by emergencies and other professionals involved in disaster response and risk reduction.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, learners will demonstrate knowledge of:

• Different disasters, their trends and consequences on displaced people
• The major political, economic, social and cultural processes surrounding humanitarian emergencies.
• The International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and the Human Rights Law (HRL) and their application in humanitarian emergencies.
• The role of humanitarian assistance in disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness.
• The underlying principles of public health management and the main problems of public health control in emergencies.
• Identify the common issues surrounding food and nutritional emergencies.

Course Content

• Nutrition and Food Security
• Nutrition and Food Security 2
• Introduction to Emergencies One
• Introduction to Emergencies Two
• Nutrition in Emergencies
• Food Aid in Emergencies
• Food Security and Nutrition in Forced Migration
• Sustainable Agriculture: Impacts on Food Production and Challenges for Food Security
• Climate Change and Food Security

Training Format:

• All materials are made available through our Online Learning Platform
• Students should commit approximately 5-6 hours of their time per week

Materials Provided:

Online delivery of curriculum materials, exercises and templates.

Assignments:

In order to demonstrate their understanding of the course content, students will be required to submit assignments at the end of every month.

Course duration: 6 months

Regions Targeted: Global

Courses Fees €1500