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Director-General Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations Jacques Diouf (L-R), U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and World Bank President Robert Zoellick
attend a news conference in Bern April 29, 2008. U.N. agencies and the
World Bank will set up a task force on food to deal with the unprecedented
rise in global food prices.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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BEIJING, April 30 (Xinhua) -- UN agencies and the
World Bank pledged on Tuesday to set up a task force to tackle an unprecedented
rise in global food prices that is threatening to spread social unrest.
The international bodies called on countries not to
restrict exports of food to secure supplies at home, warning that could make the
problem worse.
"We consider that the dramatic escalation in food
prices worldwide has evolved into an unprecedented challenge of global
proportions," the United Nations said in a statement.
This had become a crisis for the world's most
vulnerable people, including the urban poor, it said after a meeting of 27
international agency heads in the Swiss capital, Berne, to chart a solution to
food price rises that have caused hunger, riots and hoarding in poor countries.
"Though we have seen wheat prices fall over the last
few days, rice and corn prices are likely to remain high, and wheat relatively
so," World Bank President Robert Zoellick told a joint news
conference.
Higher costs of wheat, rice, and other staples have put
extreme pressure on aid providers such as the World Food Programme (WFP), a UN
agency aiming to feed 73 million people this year.
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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (L)
speaks next to World Bank President Robert Zoellick during a news
conference in Bern April 29, 2008. U.N. agencies and the World Bank will
set up a task force on food to deal with the unprecedented rise in global
food prices.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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"We could afford 40 percent less food today than we
could last June simply due to the soaring food prices," said WFP Executive
Director Josette Sheeran.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the
international community to provide the WFP all of the $755 million in emergency
funds it needs for the crisis.
"Without full funding of these emergency
requirements, we risk again the specter of widespread hunger, malnutrition, and
social unrest on an unprecedented scale," Ban warned.
Concern about soaring food costs and limited supplies
have toppled Haiti's government and caused riots in parts of Africa.
The task force, bringing together the heads of UN
agencies, funds and programs, the IMF and the World Bank under the leadership of
Ban, will set priorities for a plan of action and make sure it is carried out.
World Bank Plea
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Food
Price Index, measuring the market prices of cereals, dairy produce, meat, sugar
and oils, was 57 percent higher in March 2008 than a year earlier.
The surge is due to several factors, including
increased demand in developing countries, higher fuel costs, drought in
Australia, the use of crops for biofuels, and speculation on global commodity
markets.
There was at least some short-term easing in prices
of key commodities yesterday.
US rice futures fell more than 2.5 percent, deepening
a retreat from last week's record high as top exporter Thailand said it would
release government stocks for domestic use and traders looked ahead to Asian
harvests.
The Thai pledge to release 2.1 million tons of
stockpiled rice came a day after a trade official said the country's rice prices
were likely to ease by about 20 percent in coming weeks on increased supply from
the new domestic crop. Thailand is the world's top rice exporter.
The World Bank called on countries not to ban exports
of food, saying that only worsens the problem.
"We are urging countries not to use export bans,"
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in a statement. "These controls
encourage hoarding, drive up prices and hurt the poorest people around the world
who are struggling to feed themselves."
(Source: China Daily/Agencies)
UN to establish task force to tackle
food crisis
GENEVA, April 29
(Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) will establish a task force to tackle the
global food crisis, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced in the Swiss
capital Bern Tuesday.
Ban, who will head the task force himself, announced the
decision after meeting with 27 key international agencies. The UN will take a
series of emergent and long-term measures to deal with the crisis, he told
reporters. Full story
UN food agency pushes for solutions to
food crisis
UNITED NATIONS, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The UN's World Food
Program (WFP) is pushing for both urgent and long-term solutions to the food
crisis that is facing the world, the head of the agency said Thursday.
In a video conference from Rome, WFP Executive
Director Josette Sheeran told UN reporters that soaring food prices and tight
supplies are endangering the efforts of the agency to feed millions of hungry
people around the world. Full story
UN body predicts increase of poverty
due to higher food price
PANAMA,
April 20 (Xinhua) -- The UN Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) said
the high prices of grain like corn, wheat and rice in Latin America will result
in an increase of the number of the poor, local media reported Sunday.
"This represents a dramatic situation for many
people," Jose Luis Machinea, the ECLA executive secretary told "Panama America"
daily. Full story
UN chief: tackle global food
crisis
UNITED NATIONS, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations
hosted on Monday a high-level meeting of international trade and finance
officials to discuss measures to deal with policy challenges and emerging issues
in development finance.
Participants at the annual high-level meeting of the
UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) included senior officials from the World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and
the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The officials came to the
UN meeting to consult with the ECOSOC following their weekend talks in
Washington. Full story
