UN News May 28 and 29

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT HOLDS TALKS WITH SENIOR GERMAN OFFICIALS

Climate change, biological diversity and United Nations reform have been high on the agenda during official talks so far on the current three-day visit to Germany by General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim.

Mr. Kerim met today with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the two men discussed various UN reform initiatives, including proposals to re-shape the size and nature of the Security Council, according to a spokesperson for the Assembly President.

They also talked about efforts to achieve the globally agreed anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Yesterday Mr. Kerim met with Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul to talk about economic development in poor countries, climate change, the current global food crisis, UN relief efforts in Myanmar in the wake of this month’s devastating cyclone and the concept of a “responsibility to protect” vulnerable populations from harm.

The Assembly President is scheduled to give a lecture tonight in Essen to the Policy Forum of the Ruhr Region on the work of the UN to combat and mitigate the effects of climate change.

He travels to Bonn tomorrow to attend a high-level segment of the conference of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. After leaving Germany, Mr. Kerim will then visit Albania for talks with senior officials in the small European country.
2008-05-27 00:00:00.000

FURTHER SHARP INCREASES IN GLOBAL FOOD PRICES ‘LIKELY’ – UN REPORT
New York, May 28 2008 1:00PM
Further sharp price hikes and continued volatility in markets for food supplies appear to be likely for the next few seasons, according to a report released today by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the run-up to a summit on the global food crisis which is being held in Rome early next month.

FAO lists 22 countries that it says are particularly vulnerable to food price increases because of high levels of chronic hunger and because they are net importers of both food and fuel. The report cites Eritrea, Niger, Comoros, Haiti and Liberia as being especially at risk.

“We hope that world leaders coming to Rome will agree on the urgent measures that are required to boost agricultural production, especially in the most affected countries, and at the same time protect the poor from being adversely affected by high food prices,” said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf.

The report says that increases in domestic food prices, even by moderate rates of 10 to 20 per cent, can have immediate negative impacts on poor households that spend a large part of their income on food staples.

Protecting the most vulnerable in rural and urban areas will require targeted direct food distribution, food subsidies and cash transfers, as well as nutritional programmes including school feeding, FAO says.

The agency also calls for the distribution of seeds, fertilizers, animal feed to small-scale farmers through vouchers or smart subsidies.

FAO has appealed for $ 1.7 billion to provide seeds, fertilizers and other inputs to boost production in low-income and food deficit countries.

The report argues that high food prices represent an excellent opportunity for increased investments in agricultural research and infrastructure, noting that support should focus on the needs of poor farmers, many of whom farm in increasingly marginal areas.

Participants at the 3-5 June summit will discuss how agriculture can be harnessed to produce enough food to meet the demands of the world’s growing population. Many Heads of State and Government , as well as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the heads of many UN organizations and the Bretton Woods institutions, will attend the event.

The new international task force – brings together the heads of key UN agencies, the International Monetary Fund the World Bank and other international experts – on the global food crisis, chaired by Mr. Ban, is due to present its action plan.

Meanwhile, it was announced today that Spanish football captain and FAO Goodwill Ambassador Raúl González has been awarded the Spanish prize for solidarity in sports.

Mr. González has donated the $47,000 prize money to the FAO’s Telefood Fund which provides micro-finance to poor farmers around the world.
2008-05-28 00:00:00.000

FOOD PRICES WILL REMAIN HIGH OVER NEXT DECADE, UN REPORT SAYS
New York, May 29 2008 3:00PM
In the next 10 years food prices will remain well above the levels of the last decade, according to a report issued today by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development .
The report says that current high prices will hit the poor and hungry the hardest and calls for the urgent mobilization of humanitarian aid as well as a greater focus on boosting agricultural production in the longer term.

“Coherent action is urgently needed by the international community to deal with the impact of higher prices on the hungry and poor,” Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the FAO said at a press conference launching the report in Paris.

“Today some 862 million people are suffering from hunger and malnourishment – this highlights the need to re-invest in agriculture. It should be clear now that agriculture needs to be put back onto the development agenda.”

Using prices corrected for inflation, the report says that over the next decade rice and sugar prices will increase by less than 10 per cent, wheat by less than 20 per cent, butter coarse grains and oilseeds will rise 30 per cent, and vegetable oils over 50 per cent.

High oil prices, changing diets, urbanization, economic growth and expanding populations are underlying factors behind the rise in food prices, according to the report.

The FAO and OECD also cite growing demand for biofuel as another factor forcing up prices, saying that world ethanol production has tripled between 2000 and 2007 and is expected to double again in the next decade. Climate change, low stock levels and speculation could also add to price volatility.

In Rome, starting 3 June, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will chair a three-day summit on the global food crisis, bringing together the heads of key UN agencies, as well as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank , along with Heads of State and Government.
2008-05-29 00:00:00.000

AFRICA’S EFFORTS TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE RECEIVE $92 MILLION BOOST – UN
New York, May 29 2008 8:00PM
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Japan today announced a new $92 million initiative to help Africa adapt to global warming.

“Climate change is one of the most critical issues that governments and citizens around the world need to address,” said Olav Kjorven, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of Bureau for Development Policy.

The programme, announced today during the high-level Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), will be launched in August.

The UNDP/Japan initiative seeks to help governments revise their current anti-poverty strategies to come into line with climate change’s potential effects on development.

“As a result of climate change, many African countries will experience increased water scarcity and worsened health and food security,” Mr. Kjorven said, stressing that global warming threatens economic and social progress.

“Unless we act now, climate change may threaten everything we will attempt to achieve in the future,” he added.

Of the $92 million, $11 million will be allocated to projects in collaboration with the UN Children’s Fund ,the UN World Food Programme and the UN Industrial Development Organization.

UNDP and Japan have joined forces in the past on successful projects, in countries such as Afghanistan and Sudan and in the areas affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
2008-05-29 00:00:00.000