http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=4057
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund declared on Sunday that shortages and skyrocketing prices for food posed a potentially greater threat to economic and political stability terming it a crime against humanity.
Conferring in the shadow of a http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3854 American economy that threatens to pull down the economies of other countries, they turned their attention to the food crisis and called on the wealthiest countries to fulfill pledges to help prevent starvation and disorder in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
“Throughout the weekend we have heard again and again from ministers in developing countries and emerging economies that this is a priority issue,” said Robert Zoellick, president of the http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=342.
“We have to put our money where our mouth is now, so that we can put food into hungry mouths. It is as stark as that.”Zoellick said that almost half of the $500 million that the World Food Program recently requested in additional pledges for food aid this year had been committed, but that the program would not meet a deadline of raising the money by May 1.
The World Food Program seeks the aid, on top of nearly $3 billion already committed, because of shortfalls in food distribution resulting from higher prices.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said the food crisis posed questions about the survivability of democracy and political regimes.
“As we know in the past, sometimes those questions lead to war,” he said. “We now need to devote 100 percent of our time to these questions.”
World Bank and IMF officials noted that political instability had already hit countries as disparate as Haiti, Egypt, the Philippines and Indonesia because of food shortages, forcing some countries to limit food exports.
Zoellick had earlier highlighted the food issue in speeches and presentations this weekend, saying the World Bank intended not only to help with the emergency situation but also to upgrade programs to help countries produce more food on their own. He cited Malawi, in southern Africa, as a country that has started going in that direction.
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