[A-List] North/South split: UN food conference

["Keaney Michael" <Michael.Keaney@xxxxxx>]

Britain boycotts 'flawed' world summit on hunger
By Jessie Grimond in Rome
The Independent, 11 June 2002

The Secretary of State for Overseas Development, Clare Short, is
boycotting the United Nations World Food Summit, which opened in Rome
yesterday, saying it is flawed.

She accused the UN of focusing on food production rather than policies
to deliver food to starving people.

Leaders of developed countries are conspicuous by their absence. The
exceptions are the Spanish premier, Jose Maria Aznar and the Italian
Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, who is hosting the summit. This has
prompted accusations that the West lacks concern for the world's 815
million hungry people and the impending famine in southern Africa.

Ms Short said in a statement: "I am not sending a minister because the
starting point for this conference is flawed. The [UN food and
Agriculture Organisation] FAO's measure of hunger is essentially one of
food availability, which cannot tell you who is hungry and why. It needs
to be combined with indicators of food consumption and a diagnosis of
why so many people remain hungry when food is available, and to put in
place policies which deliver food to hungry people not just to produce
more food."

By contrast, the leaders of dozens of developing countries are leading
delegations. The most controversial is the President of Zimbabwe, Robert
Mugabe, whose attendance provoked consternation from many. Mr Mugabe is
widely accused of being responsible for the plight of 5 million
Zimbabweans who are enduring food shortages because of his government's
policy of seizing commercial farms and restriction on movements of food
aid. The aid is allegedly being kept from opposition strongholds. The
European Union imposed a travel ban on Mr Mugabe after he expelled
election monitors, but an exception was made for UN summits.

At the first World Food Summit in 1996 leaders from 185 nations vowed to
cut by half the number of hungry in the world - then at 841 million. The
number now stands at 815 million.

Charges of empty rhetoric were levelled in speeches yesterday. The
director general of the FAO, Jacques Diouf, spoke of words that did not
reflect actions. Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, gave a grim
warning of impending famine in southern Africa, saying "the time for
making promises is over". He also criticised subsidies for farmers in
wealthy nations, saying: "You put yourself in the shoes of a small
developing country, which cannot export agricultural products because of
restrictions and tariffs, a developing country that cannot export and
compete on world markets because its richer partners are heavily
subsidised."

Among measures proposed to alleviate the situation were vegetarianism,
cancelling debt and educating women.

A declaration adopted at the outset of the meeting stated that everyone
had "the right ... to safe and nutritious food" but the United States
continued to oppose the clause, fearing it would leave America open to
future legal claims by famine-stricken countries.

Member countries agreed to launch a two-year study into the question. A
declaration adopted by delegates yesterday also skirted around the
sensitive issue of genetically modified crops