ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL MEETS TO DISCUSS ‘ELIMINATING HUNGER IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM’

Press Release
ECOSOC/5935

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL MEETS TO DISCUSS ‘ELIMINATING HUNGER IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM’

Presentations Made by Heads of FAO, IFAD and WFP; Deputy Secretary General, Council and General Assembly Presidents Also Speak

The Economic and Social Council met this morning to hold an unprecedented discussion of the subject of “Eliminating Hunger in the New Millennium”.

The meeting was held in partnership with three Rome-based agencies of the United Nations in the field of food and agriculture -- the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP). During the meeting, the heads of those agencies briefed the Council on activities to eliminate hunger and participated in an interactive dialogue with Member States that followed the presentations.

Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the FAO, stressed that the World Food Summit goal of halving the number of undernourished people by 2015 could only be reached if urgent and resolute action was taken by all concerned, as spelled out in the Summit Plan of Action. All United Nations institutions, each within its own mandate and competence, should work to achieve that goal. The coordinating role of the Economic and Social Council was essential in that common endeavour.

He went on to say that insufficient investment and declining external transfers towards agricultural development and food security put in question the capacity of future generations to feed themselves. The impact of the Special Programme for Food Security in the poorer countries needed to be increased with growing financial support. In the context of globalization, both trade and finance must contribute to food security and poverty alleviation.

Stressing that the poor were not just passive beneficiaries of largesse, the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Fawzi H. Al-Sultan, said that they were essential development partners, whose participation in project design and implementation must be ensured. Renewed resources to address hunger must be accompanied by policies and projects to empower the rural poor, he stressed.

Emphasizing the importance of women’s involvement as beneficiaries, participants and decision-makers in the fight against hunger, Executive Director of the WFP Catherine Ann Bertini said it was necessary to address both long-term

2000 Resumed Session - 1a - Press Release ECOSOC/5935 47th Meeting (AM) 30 October 2000

food production and trade goals and more immediate nutritional needs. Compared with its benefits, the cost of addressing the problem of hunger was minimal. The world-wide loss of productivity because of hunger was enormous, but the estimates of what it would cost to end hunger ranged from only $2.6 to $6 billion over the present levels of official development assistance.

The President of the Council, Makarim Wibisono (Indonesia) said that in promoting food security, it was necessary to seriously address the underlying causes of hunger, which included the failure to achieve sustainable, people- centred development. It was important to focus on the broadening of sustainable livelihood; protecting the needy through better preparedness for emergencies; and creating an enabling environment, entailing strengthened governance.

President of the General Assembly Harri Holkeri (Finland) said that hunger and undernourishment were a consequence of a wider problem: the rich, representing 5 per cent of the world population, consumed some 45 per cent of all meat and fish. Women produced the bulk of the food in the world, he noted, but ate the smallest portion of it.

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette said losses in productivity and problems related to health made hunger not just an individual tragedy, but an economic handicap for communities and entire nations. That was why the eradication of hunger was such a key element in United Nations efforts to promote durable peace and sustainable development.

Representatives of Italy, Rwanda, France (on behalf of the European Union and associated States), India, Cameroon, Viet Nam, Saudi Arabia, China, Sudan and the United Kingdom took part in the discussion. Also speaking were representatives of the World Bank and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The Council will hold its next meeting at a date to be announced.

Economic and Social Council - 2 - Press Release ECOSOC/5935 47th Meeting (AM) 30 October 2000

Council Work Programme

This morning, Economic and Social Council was expected to address the question of “Eliminating Hunger in the New Millennium”. Statements were expected to be made by the President of the Council, Makarim Wibisono (Indonesia), the President of the General Assembly, Harri Holkeri (Finland), and Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette. Presentations were to be made by Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP); and Fawzi H. Al-Sultan, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Statements

Opening the meeting, MAKARIM WIBISONO (Indonesia), President of Economic and Social Council, said that this resumed substantive session of the Council was distinctive in being the first ever meeting that the Council had held with the Rome-based agencies of the United Nations: the FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

He said that the dialogue on the theme of eliminating hunger in the new millennium was of critical importance. It was intended to build on the now- established pattern of dialogues with the Bretton Woods institutions. The aim was to hold regular exchanges with heads of specialized agencies on specific themes, which would promote overall policy coordination and coherence in the system.

Today’s meeting was also an important step in the efforts to translate the commitments made at the Millennium Summit, which reflected the pledge of the World Food Summit of 1996 to halve the proportion of the world’s people suffering from hunger by the year 2015. Today’s meeting also marked the efforts to follow up on the Summit’s resolve to take special measures to address the acute challenges facing Africa in that field. Statistics showing close to a billion humans still suffering from hunger and malnutrition were evidence of a huge challenge, which could not be conquered by countries alone.

Renewed solidarity should be forged among respective agencies and with civil society and the private sector, he said. In promoting food security, it was necessary to seriously address the underlying causes of hunger, which included the failure to achieve sustainable, people-centred development. It was important to focus on the broadening of sustainable livelihood; protecting the needy through better preparedness for emergencies; and creating an enabling environment, entailing strengthened governance.

HARRI HOLKERI (Finland), President of the General Assembly, said that hunger and undernourishment were a consequence of a wider problem. The rich, representing 5 per cent of the world population, ate some 45 per cent of all meat and fish. Women produced the bulk of the food in the world, but ate the smallest portion of it. Statistics showed that illiterate women were the most disadvantaged in that regard. Basic education constituted the best hope for the eradication of hunger.

The goal of eradicating hunger had been a target of the World Food Congress in 1963, he said. That goal had been reiterated in 1974, and was still unmet by the time of the 1996 World Food Summit. The common theme of those meetings had been the conclusion that the eradication of hunger was a political commitment.

Hunger, poverty and a lack of development opportunities were intimately linked, he said. It had been maintained that the earth’s food production would be adequate to nourish all, but would that be the case in the future? he asked. Food production was not without limits. The increase in agricultural crops and livestock in developing countries had increased some 2.6 per cent in 1998, representing a decrease in growth compared with 1997. There were some positive signs, however. In sub-Saharan Africa, food production had increased.

He said 1999 estimates were not as optimistic. In the last couple of years, many African countries had experienced severe droughts, floods, and torrential rains. In many countries, food assistance would be needed in 2000-2001. Millions of people needed food aid. When looking at food shortage maps, there were areas with frequent incidence of drought and areas with good reaction capacity, but that were troubled by civil strife. Refugees and internally displaced persons, frequently women, children and the elderly, constituted a group of extreme hunger. It was not only a question of household food, but also a lack of national food security.

Hunger or inadequacy of food had a strong linkage to the overall economic performance of a country, he continued. Economic growth gave leeway to the ability to buy food. To have a significant impact on the eradication of hunger, economies must have a growth rate more or less double that of present rates. Only a few countries in Africa had experienced good growth rates. Many African countries were reliant on primary commodities. Agricultural trade was important to countries with economies that were highly dependent on primary exports.

Intra-country inequities must also be addressed, he said. Success necessitated transparent relationships between State and local government. Local owernship of the process was needed. Microcredit schemes had proved one useful way of helping people. Most recipients were not farmers but small family businesses. Microcredit also represented a modality to empower rural women. Yet microcredit was not an answer to everything. The poorest could become poorer by borrowing and not being able to pay back.

LOUISE FRECHETTE, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, welcomed the first-ever meeting of the Economic and Social Council with the heads of the three Rome-based agencies, which had been instrumental in leading the global campaign to eliminate hunger in the new Millennium. Today, it was necessary to stress that hunger was not just a sectoral concern, but rather an issue of central political, social and moral import. The fight against hunger must be fought on a broad front.

All were well aware that in today’s world, more than 800 million people went hungry every day, including one in three sub-Saharan Africans, she continued. Losses in productivity and problems related to health made hunger not just an individual tragedy, but an economic handicap for communities and entire nations. That was why the eradication of hunger was such a key element in United Nations efforts to promote durable peace and sustainable development. And that was why heads of State and government had pledged in their Millennium Summit Declaration to eradicate hunger in all nations, and to reduce by half the number of undernourished people by the year 2015.

The meeting today rightly focused on the special needs of Africa, she said, especially on those areas where drought continued to have devastating effects on food security. That would be a useful contribution to the high-level segment of the next substantive session of the Economic and Social Council, which would focus on sustainable development in Africa. That meeting could help build a strong consensus on how to address the inequities of today’s world and wage an all-out war on hunger and malnutrition. The meeting could also help forge new partnerships among United Nations agencies and organizations, governments, civil society and private enterprise.

Presentations by Rome-based Agencies

JACQUES DIOUF, Director-General of the FAO, said that eliminating hunger in the new millennium was literally a matter of life and death for millions of people. The goal of cutting in half the number of people suffering from hunger by 2015 was of utmost importance. However, the rate of progress towards that end continued to be slow. Most severely affected were South Asia and sub- Saharan Africa. Despite notable successes in several countries, the number of people suffering from under-nourishment remained significant. He wanted to be clear: the target would not be reached unless urgent and resolute action was taken by all concerned, as spelled out by the World Food Summit Plan of Action.

Each of the three Rome-based agencies was working to achieve specific goals within their distinct but complementary mandates, he continued. Their mechanisms for coordination ranged from top-level meetings to joint planning of technical activities. At the country level, they supported the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) network on rural development and food security through 69 thematic groups under the Resident Coordinator System. They worked jointly at improving the Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems at the national and international levels. The FAO cooperated with IFAD in helping countries prepare many of their investment projects. It also shared with the WFP the task of undertaking food-needs assessment in response to emergencies.

Among other actions towards food security, the FAO raised awareness on current and longer-term issues of food security, he said. The Committee on World Food Security monitored progress in implementing the World Food Summit Plan of Action. Food safety standards were established through the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius programme, and related technical assistance was provided. The FAO Special Programme for Food Security, through participatory field demonstrations and promoting self-reliance, was already showing -- in more than 60 countries -- how rural and semi-urban communities could incorporate simple but sustainable changes in technology, leading to considerable increases in farm production, incomes and access to food.

Hunger was predominantly rural and closely linked with low agricultural production and productivity, he continued. The role of agricultural development in poverty and food insecurity eradication was therefore crucial, particularly in Africa. Rural development was also the answer to excessive rural-urban migration. Insufficient investment and declining external transfers towards agricultural development and food security were taking place, however. At stake was the capacity of future generations to feed themselves.

He went on to say that the impact of the Special Programme for Food Security in the poorer countries needed to be increased with growing financial support. In the context of globalization, both trade and finance must contribute to food security and poverty alleviation. The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative, the High Level Event on Financing for Development, market access, full implementation of the Marrakesh Ministerial Decision, and innovative funding mechanisms provided new opportunities for a focus on hunger and poverty.

It was especially important to reverse the downward trend in investment for food security in areas where food emergencies seemed to be increasing in frequency, like in the Horn of Africa. In that region, official development assistance had fallen by 40 per cent over the last 10 years and the cut for agriculture had been even greater -– around 50 per cent. Relief efforts must be complemented by long-term investments in the production and distribution of food and in improving people’s access to food. They should kick-start rehabilitation and development, and strengthen the capacity of governments to eliminate hunger.

Strategies to alleviate food insecurity were important for preventing food emergencies, including those caused by conflict. Lasting food security should become a priority on national and international agendas, through sustainable agricultural and rural development. It should be pursued not just by the FAO, WFP and IFAD, but by all United Nations institutions, each within its own mandate and competence. The role of the Economic and Social Council was essential in that common endeavour.

In conclusion, he invited the Council to watch a video presentation on the work done in the Horn of Africa on behalf of the ACC.

FAWZI H. AL-SULTAN, President of IFAD, said that the rural poor themselves held the keys to a world free of hunger. It was the collective role of institutions to unleash their potential by focusing more official development assistance on rural poverty, by empowering the poor to seize opportunities, by improving their access to productive assets and by addressing the devastating impact of AIDS in Africa and around the world.

The overall advances of the last 50 years masked a slowdown in the past decade, he said. Progress in agricultural production had stalled while at the same time the prices of commodities had fallen sharply in the 1990s. Progress against hunger in Africa could be restored by refocusing resources, policies and projects on rural areas. Some 60 per cent of the undernourished were rural people living in environmentally sensitive areas with low agricultural productivity. Because the rural and urban poor both relied on food staples, addressing rural poverty could have food security benefits felt well beyond rural areas.

A focus on rural poverty reduction also accelerated economic growth, he said. Broad-based economic growth remained a key ingredient for success, particularly in Africa, where the agricultural sector was often the largest source of livelihood. Investments could reduce vulnerability to the droughts and disasters that often triggered food crises. Investments in rural and agricultural development were also vital to preparing farmers to meet the food needs of future generations. Soil fertility was not only low in many parts of the world, but was also declining. Despite the significance of investments in rural and agricultural development, resources available for this work were increasingly scarce. One option for channelling more resources toward areas that were key for hunger alleviation was debt relief.

Renewed resources must be accompanied by policies and projects that empowered the rural poor, he said. The poor were not passive beneficiaries of largesse, but were hard working, innovative and essential development partners. Their participation in project design and implementation must also be engaged. Evaluation of IFAD’s programmes, over 90 per cent of which had participatory elements, confirmed that demand-driven projects were more likely to meet real needs and to provide real support. Food security and empowerment could not be discussed without emphasizing women. Despite their critical role in feeding the family, women did not share equal access to productive assets. Gender approaches must be mainstreamed into development interventions. Secure access to productive resources, including financial services, was another ingredient. In many developing countries, access to land, water, credit and savings was the only way to develop sustainable livelihoods. It not only fostered greater productivity, but could also lead to increased household income and sustainable use of natural resources.

Technology must address the needs of the poor, he continued. Private research rarely addressed the staple crops upon which the poor relied for food and income. The poor must also be empowered to fully use technology. While technology could help increase agricultural productivity, it also threatened to replace physical labour, an important source of income for many rural areas.

The role of indigenous technology must not be overlooked, he said. Increasing the rural poor’s productivity must also be matched by increasing their opportunities to market their products. The question was how could the poorer nations take part in the international trading system and how could that system reflect their interests. It could be accomplished by negotiating for more open markets, calling for special terms for developing country applicants -– at least for an interim period, and promoting market integration among developing countries.

Poverty and hunger, particularly in Africa, could not be addressed without mentioning AIDS, he said. AIDS increased the incidence and depth of household food insecurity and poverty. It was striking Africa’s rural people in their prime, devastating subsistence farm households, which relied on physical labour as a key resource. Households heavily affected by HIV might also lose motivation to invest time and labour in the farm.

He said the agenda before the Council was an ambitious one. It would only be achieved through partnership. IFAD’s work had been greatly enhanced by the strong cooperation it had received from its partners. None in the United Nations system could tackle all of the issues alone. Given the immense needs and IFAD’s relatively low level of resources, it could not go it alone. The IFAD’s true role was as a catalyst. Partnership was essential.

CATHERINE BERTINI, Executive Director of the WFP, said that in order to end hunger, both long-term and short-term solutions were needed. Much could be achieved through long-term economic development. However, children hungry today, could not wait for the long-term developments, because they did not have food on the table. Children needed basic nutrients in their formative years or the damage would be lasting and, to a large degree, irrevocable. Her colleagues at the FAO and IFAD were addressing long-term food production and trade needs, but there were other immediate nutritional needs that the World Food Programme must address.

The cost of addressing the problem of hunger was minimal compared with the benefits, she said. The world-wide loss of productivity because of hunger was enormous. Ironically, the estimates of what it would cost to end hunger worldwide ranged from only $2.6 billion to $6 billion over the present levels of official development assistance.

The most important factor in the fight to end hunger was women, she continued. When talking about ending hunger, it was necessary to make sure that every person had enough to eat. Women were preparing the food and making efforts to feed their families all over the world. Inter-generational hunger among the poorest of the poor also involved women. Undernourished women gave birth to smaller and less healthy children. If a woman was hungry when breast- feeding, her child would not grow to be strong and take advantage of economic opportunities. Undernourished children were also more susceptible to diseases. When visiting the Horn of Africa recently, she had witnessed those problems.

The women grew most of the food in the world, but they ate the least of it, she said. Women were also responsible for finding the food and water to give to their families. More dialogue was needed with people in need to be able to help them better. For example, on a recent visit to Angola, she had talked to people who were going to plant seeds using hoes which had been sent to them by an international agency. The problem was the hoes had long handles designed for men. Nobody had asked those people what their needs were.

A similar situation had been observed in Rwanda, where people in refugee camps had received whole-kernel corn instead of the milled corn that they needed, she said. The WFP had to target resources carefully because the demand for food aid so greatly outstripped supply. Aid was being provided for food- for-work projects, school feeding and health-related feeding. But its greatest effort had been concentrated on women.

When asked, hungry people often called for an opportunity to grow food to feed their families, she said. When women were given opportunities to participate in their communities with support from the international community, the very fabric of community was receiving help. Efforts should be made to educate women, to allow them to make different decisions in their lives, including those to get an education, have fewer children and find jobs. Also, if children were fed at school, the attendance rates soared. That kind of approach should become the focus of international efforts. Such short-term efforts would have significant, long-term effects in development and elimination of hunger.

In conclusion, she paid tribute to the sister agencies, stressing that efforts to combat hunger should go beyond mainstreaming –- women should get involved as beneficiaries, participants and decision-makers in the fight against hunger. If given an opportunity, they would end world hunger.

Interactive Dialogue

The representative of Italy said that establishing food security and implementing the action plan of the World Food Summit was an objective of his Government. In light of the Millennium Summit, he was convinced that, at every occasion, it must emphasized that the fight against hunger in rural areas should be the cornerstone of an integrated strategy. Today’s meeting reaffirmed the goals of the World Food Summit by bringing together the heads of the Rome-based agencies. The achievement of the Rome objectives depended on intense cooperation within the United Nations system.

What progress had been made to enhance cooperation between the three agencies at the field level? he asked. Also, had IFAD tested new forms of cooperation with civil society? How did the FAO intend to contribute to United Nations initiatives, such as the High-level Intergovernmental Event for Financing for Development? He shared the appeal made for an increase in funding and asked that more details in that area be provided.

He said he appreciated Ms. Bertini’s work in the Horn of Africa. He was convinced that the solution to the problem lay in effective regional cooperation. Taking into account the political dimension of the problem, he wanted to know if and how the work being done by the WFP could be a part of broader efforts in that area, such as humanitarian and regional efforts.

The representative of Rwanda said that the food problem looked like a vicious circle. Life could not be sustained without food. It was as if those suffering were swimming in a closed pool with no way out. The international community must determine how it could do a better job using the United Nations agencies concerned. Ms. Bertini was right in highlighting the failure to put women at the centre of all exercises. How could women be empowered? he asked. On the issue of declining official development assistance, how could donors be convinced to invest? Could the Economic and Social Council play a role in that, or could the three agencies suggest ways to approach donors to change the current pattern?

Was there a way to make a difference in exchanging experiences? he asked. Could the experience of Uganda be exchanged, for example, with that of Bangladesh, he wondered. On the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia’s fertile soil could feed other countries in that region. It was not just a question of fertility, but also of technology. How could outdated technology be improved on?

The representative of France said that, in most developing countries, the great majority of the population lived in rural areas. Agriculture constituted the defining sector in the formation of gross domestic product (GDP) and the balance of commerce and employment. Economic discussions of the General Assembly’s Second Committee (Economic and Financial) focused mostly on macroeconomic questions and much more rarely on sectoral policies. When they had discussed sectoral policies, they dealt mostly with industrial development. How they could the Committee go further in shaping the New York agenda to discuss the work of the Rome-based agencies and to increase the visibility of agricultural issues.

The European Union would host a conference in May 2001 in Brussels, he said. He wished to know how the agency chiefs would participate in that conference. As regarded the WFP, more attention was being given in their work to short-term action. How did the heads of three agencies respond to the correlation between long- and short-term cooperation?

The representative of India said that he took the floor as a representative of a country that had moved away from being a net food importer to a net food exporter. While there continued to be droughts, cyclones and other natural disasters, food production had improved over the years. That was not to say that Indians lived in paradise.

Empowerment had been the cornerstone of India’s success in food security as a nation, he said. At the individual level, malnutrition had decreased. He believed that marrying the green revolution with gene revolution would produce nutritional revolution in the future. He asked what further actions the FAO contemplated and what it could do to promote the transfer of required technologies to developing countries, as it had done in the 1960s when the green revolution had become a reality. He also wondered what IFAD was planning to do when mandated negotiations got under way in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Regarding the issue of micronutrients, he asked whether the WFP was doing something to change dietary habits to ensure that adequate nutrients were available to children.

The representative of Cameroon said that today’s meeting had made it clear that a major premium was placed on coordination. He wanted to know how the heads of the Rome-based agencies envisioned the future role of the Economic and Social Council in that respect. His other question was what measures were being taken to ensure that the type of food supplied to various populations responded to their cultural needs. In terms of procurement of food to be supplied to the needy, he asked if products were being supplied by the countries of the region involved. Regarding post-conflict countries, he asked how ensuring food security contributed to the efforts of conflict prevention.

The representative of the World Bank said that efforts were being made to provide diagnosis and prescriptions for action to fight hunger. It was ironic that hunger was most prevalent where food was being grown. It was clear that empowerment of communities was very important in that regard. There was also consensus on the role of women. Favourable agricultural policies and access to markets were needed to overcome hunger in many developing countries. Education and health policies were also important.

He went on to say that the reality of resources going to rural areas and to agriculture presented some good news. Rural development was becoming central to the work of many donors, including the World Bank. The Bank had reformed its procedures to bring resources to communities in support of their own development plans. Low-cost water, harvesting and irrigation were being pursued. The World Bank remained the largest financier of research programmes, and it promoted small-scale investments.

The bad news, however, was that despite the world consensus on what needed to be done, official development assistance had been sharply declining in the past years, he said. Financing for the major programmes had declined, and the staff of the World Bank involved in agriculture had decreased by 30 per cent. For that reason, the Council’s initiative to look at the problems of hunger and agriculture was of great importance. The Council’s high-level segment would contribute to finding a solution to the problems. Something was very wrong and much needed to be done to change the situation.

The representative of Viet Nam welcomed the reports by the Rome-based agencies on the efforts to overcome poverty and hunger. His country was cooperating with all of them. Viet Nam had become one of the largest rice- exporting countries, and the poverty rate had been falling year by year.

Now it was necessary to consolidate the gains and make them more effective, he said. Many countries were experiencing unprecedented crises, and they should be a part of the strategy to overcome the problems. It was necessary to find new solutions and maintain what the international community already had. Cooperation among the developing countries was also of great importance.

The representative of Saudi Arabia said that agriculture remained the backbone of the economy of most developing countries. Efforts to improve knowledge and develop new technologies in the field of water resource management were of utmost importance for food production in many countries. The developing countries should receive assistance in that respect. The function of governments in water supply management should be addressed within the framework of efforts to end hunger.

The representative of China said that, in today’s world, there were 800 million people living in hunger. Among those, 70 per cent were living in abject poverty in rural areas. They lived in hunger and suffered from disease. Africa had the largest population suffering from malnutrition. In Central Africa, 50 per cent of the population were undernourished. Poverty had also hampered economic development.

Recently, China had held a ministerial-level meeting on the issue of hunger with representatives from Africa, he said. They were able to put forward some measures, including training of agriculture personnel from Africa. China had also declared debt cancellation and provided some financial support in a targeted manner. Such support would be used for resolving the issue of food production.

China was a developing country with the largest population in the world, he said. In the last 20 years, they had resolved the problem of hunger in rural areas. In the process, China had accumulated experience which it had shared at the China-Africa forum. Providing financial support was an important issue. Microcredit was an effective approach, which had been used in many areas of the world and had been successful in China. His question was what new ideas or suggestions did the three agencies have on the issue of microcredit -- how did they view that issue?

Mr. DIOUF, Director-General of the FAO, said that on the question of progress in field-level cooperation, as a follow-up to the World Food Summit, a committee had been created under the auspices of the ACC of all United Nations agencies and Bretton Woods institutions to ensure follow-up to the Rome declaration and plan of action implementation. To monitor progress at the local level, the committee was focusing on food insecurity and mapping systems, and was an interagency committee. On the question of interaction with ongoing initiatives, discussion on financing for development and the United Nations conference on Least Developed Countries had been one of the main issues at the recent ACC meeting.

The question of how to convince the different partners to provide necessary resources was the challenge they faced, he said. He hoped that efforts made at the bilateral and individual levels would bring the issue back to reality.

On technology improvement, IFAD had tried to include its experience on its web site, in particular, success stories in handling water control and issues of crop productivity and diversification. Unfortunately, those success stories did not reach the rural poor.

Also on the problem of the linkage between long- and short-term activities, he said IFAD was working with its partners to ensure that there was a continuum between urgent action and long-term needs. On the issue of agricultural trade, IFAD had launched three activities. It had reinforced its Geneva office to interact both with the WTO but also with embassies of countries accredited to the WTO. It had also stepped up its web site, which received about 10 million hits a month. Finally, IFAD had launched a training programme.

On the role of policy coordination, he said that the Rome-based agencies needed to coordinate. It was the role of the Economic and Social Council to ensure an interface between agencies and the rest of developing countries and to determine what were priority issues for debate. On the comments of the World Bank, he agreed entirely. It was unfortunately a reality that resources going to the poor were decreasing rather than increasing.

The representative of the Sudan asked what role had been envisaged by inter-agency task force in implementation of the strategy for concerted government and United Nations agency action.

The representative of the United Kingdom said that his Government was a firm supporter of the three Rome-based agencies. It was important that the Economic and Social Council knew the challenges that the agencies faced. He asked how the agencies viewed innovative funding mechanisms and how they should take shape. How could the World Bank become re-engaged?

Mr. AL-SULTAN, IFAD President, said that participation was one of the key words. That meant working with communities in group formation. In terms of the private sector, the question was how they could get the private sector to provide inputs. On issue of technology, it was a question of creating markets.

Many innovative mechanisms could be used to foster partnership with the private sector, he said. On the question of convincing donors, those issues consumed much of the agency heads’ time. The facts were real. There was lower donor support in terms of official development assistance and agriculture. A number of countries had been working together on short- and long-term coordination. The approach was to look at short-term needs and see who could best get them done. That was happening more often.

He said there was tremendous potential for using the technologies available today, but it would require investment. On the issue of trade barriers, a key aspect was access to markets. Soil and water management was a key issue in all projects.

On the issue of microcredit, he said that IFAD had done perhaps the most in that area. While it was important to reach the poorest people through microcredit organizations, it also had to be determined whether those organizations were sustainable. It was also important to ensure that they were linked to the financial sector.

Ms. BERTINI, WFP Executive Director, said that the issue of using dietary supplements had become increasingly important for the WFP, which was working with donors to ensure that micronutrients were being used in foods. The WFP also did its best to provide suitable foods. They often faced security issues in distributing food. On the procurement issue, the WFP was the largest procurer of food in Africa.

She said the WFP purchased most food in national markets, which greatly cut down on costs and allowed foods to move. Sometimes countries facing shortfalls chose to close them off, in which case they could not bid on food. Refugee situations were a continuing problem. The WFP was very involved with the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) Executive committee. That had been

an extremely useful reform of the Secretary-General to develop relations among the agencies managed by him. On field coordination, 50 of the WFP’s 81 offices had joint activities with the FAO and IFAD.

Concerning the question of the Horn of Africa and increased effective regional coordination, regional humanitarian coordination worked very well, she said. Other international entities were also involved, and it would be important to meld them. What could the Economic and Social Council do? It could provide direction in terms of the cooperation of humanitarian and military aspects. The Council could also do quite a lot on the issue of women. It could give specific direction to the agencies that reported to it on what it expected and ask for specific reports. The Council could also make recommendations to member countries on what it expected from them. Unless women were put in local governments, nothing would be accomplished. She noted that because of the way the United Nations system was set up, the Economic and Social Council could only coordinate the work of the WFP.

A representative of the International Labour Organization (ILO) said he was interested in the prospect of a meeting of heads of State to take place in November in Khartoum.

Mr. WIBISONO, Council President, said that he would be preparing his summary of the meeting. While he did not wish to interfere, he wanted to share his thinking and concerns attached to the issue of food and poverty. He was very impressed with the way the agencies had responded to questions. It was a good first step for future coopeation.

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