The United Nations taskforce on the global food crisis on Monday held its first meeting to define its work and prepare for the June 3-5 conference of high-ranking officials on the issue in Rome, the dpa reported.
Presided over by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the taskforce's primary goal is to "promote a comprehensive and unified response to the global food price challenge in support of governments and affected populations."
"The focus of today's meeting was the development of a comprehensive framework for tackling the challenges posed by the food price crisis," the UN said in a statement.
The taskforce is headed by UN Undersecretary General John Holmes, who is also the top coordinator for emergency humanitarian activities. Holmes is assisted by David Nabarro, who was heading UN programmes to combat avian flu worldwide. The team includes UN agencies, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The taskforce is urging countries around the world to ensure that their policies do not exacerbate rising food prices, particularly of exports.
It appealed also to countries to make available food supplies for humanitarian assistance.
The crisis was sparked in recent months by the spiraling increase in prices of some of the most common commodities, like rice, the staple food for many developing countries.
The high food prices have affected UN humanitarian activities, such as those of the World Food Programme, which said high prices have slashed its purchasing power of food items by 40 per cent. Last month, WFP asked governments for an additional 750 million dollars to make up for the high expenditures.