Humanity First UK invites you to join us at the United Nations in Geneva for Access to Food and Water: Implications for Security and the Right to Development, a side event in the margins of the 14th session of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development (EMRTD), as the UN marks the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development. The session brings together UN experts, diplomats, practitioners and civil society to discuss how access to food and safe water underpins human security and development.
Event details
- Date: Tuesday 27 October 2026
- Time: 13.30–14.55 CET
- Location: Council Chamber, Palais des Nations, United Nations, Geneva
Advance registration through the UN's registration portal is required to secure a badge for entry. Attendees are responsible for their own travel and expenses.
The event is organised by Humanity First UK. It is not convened by, or held under the auspices of, the Expert Mechanism or OHCHR.
Background
Access to adequate food and safe water is fundamental to human dignity, health, security and sustainable development. Yet communities affected by conflict, displacement, environmental degradation and humanitarian crises still face serious barriers to these essential resources.
The Declaration on the Right to Development, adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1986 and reaffirmed by the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in 1993, frames development as a universal and inalienable human right, resting on participation, equality, non-discrimination, accountability and the fair distribution of benefits. Forty years on, this side event will explore how access to food and water connects to human security and the realisation of that right, and what international cooperation, rights-based approaches and practical interventions can do to build more resilient communities.
The session complements the Expert Mechanism’s own panel discussion on access to food, security and inequalities, held earlier the same day, by bringing practitioner and community-level perspectives to the themes before the Mechanism.
Format
An 85-minute moderated session: opening remarks and a keynote address (15 minutes), a panel discussion (40 minutes) and an open exchange with participants (30 minutes).
Speakers
Moderator
- Anwar Mehmood Ur Rehman, Human Rights Consultant and Moderator
Keynote speaker
- Professor Surya Deva, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development. Appointed by the Human Rights Council in 2023, Professor Deva teaches at Macquarie Law School in Australia, where he directs the Environmental Law Research Centre.
Panel speakers
- Dr Ramona Biholar, Member of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development and Senior Lecturer in Law, University of the West Indies
- Rashida Abbas, Legal scholar and PhD candidate in international law, University of Geneva
- Dr Aziz Hafiz, Chairman, Humanity First UK. A practising GP, Dr Hafiz has led Humanity First relief deployments around the world, including extensive work in Gaza.
- Pradeep Wagle, Acting Chief of the Development, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Branch, OHCHR Geneva
- Christian Knuchel, Sustainable water projects; Master’s degree in Economics, University of Basel
The discussion
The panel will consider how access to adequate food and safe water contributes to human security and the right to development, the main barriers facing conflict-affected and vulnerable communities, and how governments, international organisations, humanitarian actors, civil society and the private sector can cooperate to remove them. Speakers will also look at practical solutions, including environmental, health, technological and development approaches, that can be scaled up to strengthen community resilience.
The session is expected to produce practical recommendations and areas for follow-up cooperation on food and water security, with particular attention to vulnerable and conflict-affected communities.
Who should attend
The event is open to diplomats, UN staff, NGOs, humanitarian organisations, academics and anyone working on food and water security or the right to development. Registration in advance is required.
Book your place at the side event through the UN's Indico registration portal.
Humanity First’s work on food and water
Through our Water for Life programme, Humanity First drills and restores wells so that communities across Africa have safe water close to home. Our teams also deliver food and clean water in humanitarian crises, including inside Gaza, where access to both remains under severe strain.