Multilateral food aid

XXIII. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE
2462. Multilateral food aid

The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 2096 (XX) of 20 December 1965 and 2300 (XXII) of 12 December 1967 on the programme of studies on multilateral food aid, Recalling also the Declaration on the World Food Problem[1] adopted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at its second session, Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General,[2] prepared 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 the other agencies and programmes concerned, Taking note also of the report of the Advisory Committee on the Application of Science and Technology to Development entitled Feeding the Expanding World Population: International Action to Avert the Impending Protein Crisis,[3] Bearing in mind the discussion on multilateral food aid at the fourteenth session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and at the forty-third session of its Committee on Commodity Problems, Aware of the encouraging recent improvements in the food production prospects of some developing countries with a food deficit, especially through programmes based on the wider adoption of high-yielding cereal varieties, Bearing in mind also, however, that it is essential to keep under review within the framework of the Second United Nations Development Decade the progress made towards the solution of the world food problem and, in this context, the capacity of primary-exporting countries and developed countries to sustain an expanded programme of food aid, due account being taken of the special circumstances of food-importing donor countries,

1. Reaffirms that the ultimate solution of the food problem of the developing countries lies in increased production in the developing countries with a food deficit, in the context of their general economic development, with the co-operation of the developed countries;

2. Recognizes that, in view of the continuing need for food transfers as a measure of temporary assistance to the developing countries until they have solved their food problems and for a degree of planning to ensure that the supplies required are available, and taking into account moreover the existence of surpluses, an opportunity now exists for food aid operations to become more purposeful and efficient, and to this end stresses the importance of:

(a) Food aid for humanitarian purposes as well as a contribution to economic and social progress in countries with a food deficit and for emergency requirements, including the need to overcome the problem of nutritional deficiency;

(b) Assistance to the developing countries in their efforts to increase food production through the modernization of the agricultural sector;

(c) The principle that the benefits of food aid should accrue mainly to the developing countries with a food deficit, bearing in mind their limited purchasing capacity, with appropriate regard to the trade interests of the food-exporting countries, especially the developing countries, in conformity with the principles of surplus disposal of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

(d) The role of international arrangements designed, where appropriate, to combine the pursuit of objectives of commodity price stabilization at an equitable and remunerative level, with measures to provide food aid for developing countries;

3. Considers that the special competence and experience of the World Food Programme should be brought to bear in co-operation with interested organizations of the United Nations system in the further adaptation of multilateral food aid operations to meet the needs which arise;

4. Urges States Members of the United Nations and members and associate members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to make every effort to attain the target for voluntary contributions to the World Food Programme;

5. Invites the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in consultation with the executive heads of other interested organizations, to give consideration to the possible ways, including the suggestions contained in the Secretary-General's report, of making appraisals of prospective food deficits and food aid needs and of ensuring that sufficient food-stuffs are available to cope with unforeseen urgent situations, and to report as appropriate to the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and to the Economic and Social Council;

6. Requests the United Nations/FAO Inter-governmental Committee of the World Food Programme:

(a) To review the relevant parts of the Secretary-General's report and other recent studies on the subject of food aid prepared within the United Nations system;

(b) To submit recommendations, especially with a view to assisting in the preparation of the Second United Nations Development Decade, on those aspects of the food aid question which in its view might guide the activities of Member States and of the competent international organizations in helping to solve the world food problem;

(c) To consider in this respect ways and means of improving its own food aid programme commensurate with prospective needs in this field, with due regard to experience gained to date, including allocations to the World Food Programme under the Food Aid Convention of the International Grains Arrangement,[4] taking into account the relevant proposals contained in the in the Secretary-General's report and the need to utilize effectively donations of food-stuffs which become available at short notice, subject to the rules of procedure of the World Food Programme;

(d) To continue its examination of the considerations involved in the question of including forms of aid in kind other than food in the resources of the World Food Programme, the potential availability of such pledges and the manner in which requests might be assessed;

7. Requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in consultation with other interested agencies and programmes, to provide assistance as required to the United Nations/FAO Intergovernmental Committee in the discharge of its mandate;

8. Further requests that a progress report of the United Nations/FAO Intergovernmental Committee falling within the terms of the present resolution be presented, if possible, for consideration to the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations at its fifty-second session and the Economic and Social Council at its forty-seventh session, with the final report being submitted to the Economic and Social Council at its forty-ninth session;

9. Invites the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in consultation with the executive heads of other interested agencies and programmes, to keep under review, in the context of the Second United Nations Development Decade, the evolution of the food problem in developing countries and the progress made towards its solution, bearing in mind that this would require an integrated approach.

1751st plenary meeting,
20 December 1968.

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[1] See Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Second Session, vol. I and Corr.1 and Add.1, Report and Annexes (United Nations publication, Sales No.: E.68.II.D.14), annex I, declaration 9 (II). [2] Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, Resumed Forty-fifth Session, Annexes, agenda item 2, document E/4538. [3] United Nations publication, Sales No.: E.68.XIII.2. [4] See International Wheat Conference, 1967 (United Nations publication, Sales No.: E.68.II.D.5).