internal conflicts or other emergency situations….and failure to regulate activities of individuals or groups so as to prevent them from violating the right of food of others.”101 As the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food stated in his 2008 report to the Human Rights Council, “Governments are bound to respect, protect and fulfil the right to food without discrimination, which also means that they should be held accountable to their populations if they violate those obligations.”102 Right to Health All individuals have the right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health, a right which has been enshrined in international and regional treaties. The right to health is guaranteed by the ICESCR, CEDAW, and the ACHPR. This right imposes an obligation on states to take necessary steps for the prevention, treatment and control of epidemics and other diseases. The ICESCR guarantees the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of health, and requires states parties to take steps individually and through international cooperation to progressively realize this right via the prevention, treatment, and control of epidemic diseases and the creation of conditions to assure medical service and attention to all.103 “Progressive realization” demands of states parties a “specific and continuing obligation to move as expeditiously and effectively as possible towards the full realization of [the right].”104 According to the WHO, “[w]hen considering the level of implementation of this right in a particular State, the availability of resources at that time and the development context are taken into account. Nonetheless, no State can justify a failure to respect its obligations because of a lack of resources. States must guarantee the right to health to the maximum of their available resources, even if these are tight.”105 The concept of available resources is intended to include available assistance from the international community.106 101 Ibid. para. 19. 102 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, Human Rights Council, January 10, 2008, A/HRC/7/5, para. 19. 103 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), adopted December 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 49, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 993 U.N.T.S. 3, entered into force January 3, 1976, art. 12. 104 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UNCESCR), “Substantive Issues Arising in the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,” General Comment No. 14, The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health, E/C.12/2000/4, ( 2000), paras. 30-31. 105 OHCHR and WHO, “The Right to Health,” p. 5. 106 See Ryszard Cholewinski, “Economic and Social Rights of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Europe,” Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, pp. 714-19. Crisis without Limits 30