Olivier De Schutter was appointed as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2020. An academic specialised in economic and social rights, he is also currently a member of the Council of Europe’s European Committee of Social Rights and co-chair of IPES-Food. He previously served as the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food from 2008 to 2014, and as a member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights between 2015 and 2020. Prior to those appointments, he was Secretary-General of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). He teaches at UCLouvain (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) and at Sciences Po (Paris, France).
Articles
15.12.2025
Eradicating Poverty: Growth Is Not the Answer
Economic growth was long seen as the surest route to poverty eradication. That wisdom has since been dispelled. In its place, an emphasis on securing society-wide equality and wellbeing has emerged, but policymakers have yet to catch up.
Read more21.11.2018
System Overhaul: Making Food Sustainable
The IPES-Food co-chair discusses CAP reform, agroecology, and how only an overhaul of the food system will make it sustainable.
Read more26.09.2017
A Food Policy for Europe
Instead of policy which pulls in different directions, Europe needs an integrated food policy that supports more local attempts at a sustainable and productive food system.
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