The UN Special Rapporteur On The Right To Food, Professor Michael Fakhri, will participate in a number of free public and academic events at the University on 7 and 8 March.

Organised by the Centre for Critical International Law (CeCIL), Kent Law School and the Division of Law, Society and Social Justice (LSSJ), these events will consider the impact of Covid-19 on food security and the right to food worldwide.

During his visit, Professor Fakhri will deliver the 2021-2022 CeCIL Annual Lecture at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre on 8 March (7-9pm), preceeded by a reception (6-7pm). His lecture, entitled, ‘The Radical Potential of the Right to Food’, is free and open to all. Free tickets can be booked here. This event will be live-streamed by KMTV.

On 7 March, Professor Fakhri, who is also Director of the Food Resiliency Project at the University of Oregon School of Law, will participate in an in-conversation style event featuring Young Food Ambassadors from The Food Foundation and the organisation’s Executive Director, Anna Taylor. Organised and hosted by CeCIL and LSSJ, this event will take place in Keynes College Lecture Theatre 1 (7-8.30pm), preceeded by a reception (6-7pm). Free tickets for this event are available here. This event will also be live-streamed by KMTV.

In addition to these public events, Professor Fakhri will attend seminars with Law LLM students at Kent Law School to share Special Rapporteur’s insights, experience and expertise, as well as meetings with leaders from community groups whose work interfaces with Professor Fakhri’s mandate to address the need for an integrated and coordinated approach to promoting and protecting people’s right to food.

Professor Fakhri’s visit will feed into the Special Rapporteur’s broader consultations on identifying solutions to mitigate harmful impacts of the pandemic on the realisation of the right to food.

Dr Luis Eslava, CeCIL Co-Director and Reader in International Law at Kent Law School, said: ‘We are extremely honoured to be hosting Professor Fakhri. His visit will give students and the broader community the opportunity to learn more about his incredibly important work on the promotion of the right to food, in an era in which access to adequate food is increasingly under threat from factors including climate change, endemic conflict, harsh economic conditions and, of course, the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and other health crises.’

Anna Taylor, Executive Director of The Food Foundation, said: ‘We welcome the opportunity to discuss and share evidence about the current situation in the UK and we look forward to hearing more about UN’s international work on the importance of a rights-based approach to food and how we must protect the most at risk in society.’