By KUNA,
Geneva : UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon warned on Tuesday of widespread hunger, malnutrition and social unrest if funds will not be available to avert the dramatic escalation in food prices.
Speaking at a news conference, Ban Ki-Moon called for the immediate funding of USD 755 million for the World Food Program (WFP) and USD 1.7 billion for the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to assist farmers and other measures needed urgently to face the current crisis, which according to the UN Secretary General represents unprecedented challenge of global proportions for the most vulnerable. He announced the establishment of a UN Task Force on the Global Food Crisis which he will preside and has appointed John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs as its coordinator.
Ban Ki-Moon also added that the World Bank is thinking of creating a Global Crisis Response Facility to deal with this crisis. World Bank President Robert Zolleick told the press conference that 100 million people have been pushed to poverty, that the world can afford funding the WFP with the money needed but the poor cannot wait.
This press conference was held in Bern in the presence of several heads of UN agencies attending the Council of the UN Agency Heads presided by the UN Secretary-General.