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

UN News May 22

LOSS OF ANIMAL SPECIES AND CROPS IS ‘DEVASTATING’ – SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN
New York, May 22 2008 1:00PM
The extinction of animal species, as well as the reliance on a narrow range of crops, is a major threat to the planet’s development and security, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today in a statement to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity.

“This Day serves as a reminder of the importance of the Earth’s biodiversity, and as a wake-up call about the devastating loss we are experiencing as irreplaceable species become extinct at an unprecedented rate,” he said.

About a fifth of domestic animal breeds are at risk of extinction, with an average of one lost each month, and out of the 7,000 species of plants that have been domesticated over the 10,000-year history of agriculture, only 30 account for the vast majority of food consumed every day.

“Relying on so few species for sustenance is a losing strategy,” the Secretary-General said. “Climate change is complicating the picture,” he added, saying that livestock production accounted for more greenhouse gas emissions than transport.

“In a world where the population is projected to jump 50 per cent by the year 2050, these trends can spell widespread hunger and malnutrition, creating conditions where poverty, disease and even conflict can metastasize.”

In a separate statement marking the Day, from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Convention on Biological Diversity, the CBD’s Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf said: “If current extinction rates continue, it will be hard to provide sufficient food for a global population that is expected to reach nine billion by mid-century.”

At the ongoing meeting on the CBD in Bonn, Germany, delegates are deciding on measures that would move the world closer to the globally-agreed goal of reversing the loss of biodiversity by 2010. Under the Convention, countries are working to protect soil biodiversity, curb the loss of pollinators, and maintain the variety of foodstuffs needed to ensure proper food and nutrition.
2008-05-22 00:00:00.000

UN News May 20

FOOD CRISIS, CLIMATE CHANGE AND INFLUENZA ARE MAIN THREATS TO HEALTH, SAYS UN
New York, May 19 2008 6:00PM
The global food crisis, climate change and pandemic influenza are the main threats to human health, according to the United Nations World Health Organization.

“These three critical events, these clear threats to international security, have the potential to undo much hard-won progress in public health,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said today in Geneva.

Speaking at the opening of the 61st session of the World Health Assembly, which is WHO’s supreme decision-making body, Ms. Chan said the organization had identified 21 “hot spots” around the world which are already experiencing high levels of acute and chronic malnutrition. As part of the international task force on the global crisis caused by soaring food prices, WHO is aiming to guide priority action, she said.

Ms. Chan added that an estimated 3.5 million deaths a year are caused by undernutrition, and that poor households spend on average between 50 and 75 per cent of their income on food. “More money spent on food means less money available for health care, especially for the many millions of poor households who rely on out-of-pocket payments when they fall ill.”

On climate change, she said that more droughts, floods and tropical storms would add to the demands for humanitarian assistance and would result in a growing number of environmental refugees. “Again, the poor will be the first and hardest hit. Climate change is already adding an additional set of stresses in areas that are already fragile, with marginal livelihoods and thin margins of survival when shocks occur.”

Ms. Chan described pandemic influenza, potentially set off by the spread of bird flu to humans, as the “third global crisis looming on the horizon.” She said that “the threat has by no means receded, and we would be very unwise to let down our guard, or slacken our preparedness measures.”

“As with climate change, all countries will be affected, though in a far more rapid and sweeping way,” she added.

The week-long session of the World Health Assembly will also discuss female genital mutilation (FGM) and the harmful use of alcohol.
2008-05-19 00:00:00.000

BIODIVERSITY KEY TO TACKING GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS – UN AGENCY
New York, May 19 2008 12:00PM
Just 12 crops and 14 animal species provide most of the world’s food, and this lack of diversity means that the food supply has become more vulnerable and less sustainable – according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

“The erosion of biodiversity for food and agriculture severely compromises global food security,” FAO Assistant Director-General Alexander Müller said today. “We need to strengthen our efforts to protect and wisely manage biodiversity for food security,” he added.

Speaking at the beginning of a global conference on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Bonn, Germany, Mr. Müller called on the international community to intensify its commitment to integrating food security and biodiversity concerns.

FAO also raised the alarm about a worldwide decline in biodiversity. It estimates that the genetic diversity of agricultural crops has declined by 75 per cent over the last century and that hundreds of the 7,000 animal breeds registered in FAO databases are threatened with extinction.

FAO says that less genetic diversity means that there are fewer opportunities for the growth and innovation needed to boost agriculture at a time of soaring food prices.

Related: 26700
2008-05-19 00:00:00.000