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	US should take lead against World Hunger by Jesse Jackson Chicago Sun-Times USA   April 2008   Across the world, hunger is on the rise. The World Bank estimates that average food prices have soared by some 83 percent over the last three years, and more than 100 million people may be pushed into poverty as a result. In Haiti, the poor eat “dirt cakes” to put something in their stomachs. Food riots have convulsed more than a dozen countries — from Egypt to Mexico.   For Americans, rising food prices are part of a big squeeze, with gas prices more than twice what they were a year ago, health care costs soaring, and wages simply not keeping up. But as the New York Times notes, even the poorest 20 percent of Americans spend only about 16 percent of their budget on food. Rising food prices hurt, and hunger is rising in this rich country. Food kitchens are having a hard time meeting demand across the country.   But for much of the developing world, soaring food prices are about survival, not sacrifice. Nigerian families spend 73 percent of their budgets to eat, Vietnamese 65 percent, Indonesians half. People living on $2 a day can’t scrimp on luxuries to pay for rising food prices. They go hungry. In Bangladesh, garment workers strike over the cost of food.   The price of rice, the staple of their diet, has increased by one-third since last year. Experts say 30 million of the country’s 150 million people could go without daily meals.   The causes of the soaring prices are many — and they will only get worse. Demand is rising as India and China develop. Global warming disrupts traditional weather patterns. Subsidies for corn-based ethanol have driven up the price of corn and led farmers to move to that crop. Subsidence agriculture has been devastated by a global trade system that features subsidized agribusiness food exports. And now the rising price of oil increases the cost of transporting that food.   Emergency aid is needed right now, both for our neighbors like Haiti, which is our responsibility since we displaced its government, and for the world. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for a global effort in his visit here. He got little attention. The U.N. secretary general is raising alarms across the world. He gets virtually no press. This is, as Jean Ziegler, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the right to food, said, “silent mass murder.”   We spend $12 billion a month on Iraq. On Wall Street, hedge fund operators earn $3 billion in one year. Overseas aid from developed countries went down, not up, last year. This is a matter of human decency. It is a measure of what kind of people we are. But it also concerns a clear and present danger to our security.   Have no doubt: Growing hunger and desperation in a global world will devastate people and destabilize governments. If the U.S. leads, it can help revive its reputation in a world that has been alienated by the Bush administration. It is a time for leaders to stand up.
	Increase public spending to meet needs triggered by rising food & fuel costs by United Nations General Assembly   18 Jul 2008 (Sixty-second General Assembly Plenary)   With soaring costs of food and energy pushing over 100 million people into poverty and threatening progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged Member States immediately to scale up public spending to meet the growing needs of the world"s hungry people as he opened the UN General Assembly"s debate on the global food and energy crises.   "This crisis is not a short-term issue -- it will require the sustained attention of Governments, donors, international and regional organizations, civil society and the private sector for years to come," he stressed.   Indeed, the three critical challenges facing humanity -- realizing the Millennium Development Goals, addressing climate change and responding to the global food and energy crises -- were interrelated and global in nature and, as such, required a global response.   Noting, United Nations agencies were shifting resources and mobilizing funds to help ensure that the available food assistance reached those most in need. In addition, seeds and fertilizers were being supplied to small-scale farmers in developing countries so they could grow more crops.   Mr Ban emphasized, however, the importance of stepping up and sustaining such efforts over the next three to five years.   In that context, he called for the creation of a Global Partnership for Food, which would feature Governments at the centre, and be guided by the Comprehensive Framework for Action developed by the High-Level Task Force on Food Security.   The Framework was tailored to specific country needs. It would aim to catalyse country-level action by providing Governments with the main elements for the formulation of responses. The Framework had two key objectives: to meet the needs of vulnerable populations, and to build long-term global food security.   To achieve the Framework"s goals, an estimated $25 billion to $40 billion would be needed annually, the Secretary-General said. "Whatever the exact sums, this is the order of magnitude required."   Member States should scale up food assistance, provide predictable financial support for food aid, exempt purchases of humanitarian relief food from export restrictions, and focus on boosting agricultural production and reversing the dramatic downward trend in agriculture"s share of official development assistance flows, which had dropped to just 3 per cent.   The cost of inaction would be unacceptably high and could reverse the most important gains made towards realizing the Millennium Development Goals, he warned.   "If we do not seek lasting solutions now, more children will die each day", and the threats left to the next generation would be even greater.   UN General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim, echoed the Secretary-General"s call, warning that the amount of financing raised to deal with the crisis was well below the $25 billion annual benchmark.   "We must now begin to take the tough initial steps so that over the long term we can inject new life into multilateralism and move to a new economic paradigm for the twenty-first century," he said.   Though Member States expressed general support for the Comprehensive Framework for Action as a positive step towards a coordinated response to the food and energy crises, numerous concerns were expressed regarding the document"s financial implications.   The representative of Antigua and Barbuda, speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said that, despite the recognition given to the considerable financial implications of the crisis, the High-Level Task Force only urged donor countries to increase official development assistance for food aid, thereby inviting a reallocation of existing assistance.   The representative of Bangladesh, speaking on behalf of the least developed countries, reinforced those remarks and expressed concern over the lack of concrete recommendations as to how countries that were constrained in terms of resources would finance the implementation of various measures.   In addition, the document did not properly address the concerns of the least developed countries -- those hardest hit by the global crises.   International actions were imminently necessary, according to the representative of Tonga, who spoke on behalf of the Pacific small-island developing States, describing them as being on the frontlines of the twin global crises.   More than 90 per cent of the population of that region was involved in agriculture or fisheries and the recent state of emergency declared by the Marshall Islands due to rising food and fuel prices was evidence of the gravity of the situation.   His comments echoed those made by the majority of speakers during today"s plenary meeting in calling for an urgent, coordinated and comprehensive response to overcome the complex short-medium- and long-term challenges of the crises.
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