Programme of studies on multilateral food aid

UN General Assembly, Programme of studies on multilateral food aid, A/RES/2096, UN General Assembly, 20 December 1965, https://www.refworld.org/legal/resolution/unga/1965/en/7172 [accessed 16 November 2025]
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XX. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE
2096. Programme of studies on multilateral food aid

The General Assembly, Bearing in mind its resolution 2095 (XX) of 20 December 1965 extending the World Food Programme, Considering that the problem of hunger will continue to be one of the most serious problems facing the international community in the years to come, Noting the finding of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations at its thirteenth session that, while it was possible to discern a trend towards the reduction of world surpluses, the need for food aid was on the contrary increasing, Considering further that, without prejudice to the efforts being made to increase food production in developing countries, it is essential to intensify international co-operation in this field so long as many countries continue to experience difficulties in importing the additional food-stuffs needed for their steadily increasing populations, Considering that the experience gained with the World Food Programme and the increase in its resources should enable it to enlarge its potential in this field and also to facilitate progress towards the objectives of the recommendation contained in annex A.II.6 of the Final Act of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, [1] Recognizing that various proposals intended to make the World Food Programme a more effective instrument of international co-operation. including the proposal to convert it to a world food fund, have given rise to a number of fundamental issues, and that among these the United Nations/FAO Intergovernmental Committee of the World Food Programme at its eighth session had identified the following as significant:

(a) The needs and absorptive capacity of developing countries for food aid,

(b) The technical and economic feasibility of utilizing the productive capacity of developing countries, efficient primary exporting countries and developed countries to sustain an enlarged, well-balanced programme of food aid to needy peoples,

(c) The implications for the agricultural export earnings of developing countries, developed primary exporting countries and countries heavily dependent on the export of primary commodities,

(d) The problems of distribution and administration,

(e) The relationship between food aid arrangements and commodity trade arrangements,

(f) The problems of financing, both over-all and for individual countries,

Bearing in mind that, while these issues are of particular significance to the World Food Programme, their study goes beyond the terms of reference of the United Nations/FAO Intergovernmental Committee and comes within the competence of such organizations as the United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Considering further that the Committee on Commodity Problems of the Food and Agriculture Organization, at its thirty-ninth session, had drawn attention to the following additional issues:

(a) The implications of proposals on total aid to developing countries,

(b) The aid-giving capacity of donor countries,

(c) The impact on agricultural trade as a whole and the possible effects on prices of food commodities no in surplus,

Appreciating that a study of this kind should be as comprehensive as possible and should deal with the proposals made and the problems they raise in terms as concrete as possible, with reference to different types of food commodities and the implications for different categories of countries, Noting that the United Nations/FAO Intergovernmental Committee decided to refer the whole matter to its parent bodies for consideration, Noting further the action taken since that time by the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization and the relevant items in the programme of work recommended to the Trade and Development Board by its Committee on Commodities, Recalling the words of His Holiness Pope Paul VI to the General Assembly on 4 October 1965: "Your task is to ensure that there is enough bread on the table of mankind", [2]

1. Requests the Secretary-General - in co-operation with the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and in consultation with the executive heads of other interested international organizations and programmes, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and utilizing the total facilities of the United Nations, including the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Food Programme - to examine, with a view to suggesting various alternative types of action and in the context of the efforts being made in connexion with the United Nations Development Decade, the means and policies which would be required for large-scale international action of a multilateral character, under the auspices of the United Nations system, for combating hunger effectively, this comprehensive study to be based upon. but not necessarily limited to, the proposals already made for adapting the techniques of food aid so as to benefit developing countries which are exporters of food-stuffs, as well as those which are importers, and with due regard, inter alia, to the issues mentioned in the sixth and eighth preambular paragraphs of the present resolution, especially those relating to the need for financial resources and to the possible relationship of this type of action to long-term international agreements on staple food-stuffs;

2. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its twenty-first session, through the Economic and Social Council, a report which would deal, inter alia, with the arrangements made for undertaking this concerted study, any preliminary findings and the anticipated time-table for the completion of the task.

1404th plenary meeting,
20 December 1965.
[1] See Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, vol. I, Final Act and Report (United Nations publication, Sales No.: 64.II.13.11), p. 32. [2] Official Records of the General Assembly, Twentieth .Session, Plenary Meetings, 1347th meeting para. 40.
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