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BODY:
ECOSOC
ISSUE CONCERNING:
Measures against food crisis caused
by banking speculation
SUBMITTED BY:
United States of America
SUPPORTED BY:
Brazil, China, Cuba, Germany,
Ghana, India, Indonesia, Ireland,
Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Nigeria,
Oxfam, Pakistan, Republic of Korea,
Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Spain,
Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United
Arab Emirates
The Economic and Social Council,
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Having devoted attention to the Global Financial Crisis which devastated the
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food market and national economies all over the world,
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Taking note of the fact that during the 2007-08 food price crisis, food riots took
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place in more than 30 countries and that in the last five years the amount of
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financial speculation on food has nearly doubled, from $80 to $150 billion,
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Keeping in mind that almost one billion people suffer from chronic hunger
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which is more than one-seventh of the world’s population,
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Noting that ”future contracts”, called derivatives between investors and
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producers were the main causes of the beginning of the crisis and banking
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speculators are worsening the situation,
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Deeply disturbed about the Food Price Index of the Food and Agricultural
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Organization which increased by 71% due to the financial crisis in 2008,
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Bearing in mind that the world’s population is supposed to increase to more
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than nine billion by 2050, requiring an up to 70% increase in agricultural
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production which is unlikely to succeed unless a global solution is found,
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Welcoming acts taken concerning this issue, such as the food and
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development assistance by the U.S. Government of 1.7 billion dollars for
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humanitarian needs and agricultural productivity, the food package for eleven
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million people from the Canadian International Development Agency to East
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Africa in times of drought and the Chinese Goverment’s famine relief of more
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than $70 million dollars for suffering African countries,
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Fully alarmed by the fact that $4.4 trillion of over-the-counter commodity
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derivatives were outstanding in December 2008 after having been created in
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private so that other market investors would not see what assets were being
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traded at what price,
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Conscious of the need to support the ongoing economic growth which is a
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must in order to effectuate employment, to promote national and international
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development and to consolidate social integrity,
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Approving the Food Stamp Program created by the United States
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Government in 1934 to provide food to people with lower income,
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Affirming that the reason for the crisis is not only food but also other energy
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sources such as oil,
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Welcoming the work of the World Development Movement to set up position
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limits for the commodity derivatives in order to prevent speculation, distorting
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prices and contribution to future food crises,
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Expresses its regret towards the fact that poor households in developing
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countries tend to spend between 50% and 90% of their income on food,
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compared to an average of 10% to 15% in developed countries,
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Recalling the Global Jobs Pact, adopted by the International Labor
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Conference on 19 June 2009, which intended to promote a job-intensive
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recovery from the crisis and sustainable growth,
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Recalling also previous UN resolutions on – at least partly – this topic such as
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ECOSOC’s 2009/5 resolution, which was adopted after the International
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Labor Conference of the International Labor Organization and which
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strengthens the Global Jobs Pact framework,
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Guided by the ECOSOC resolution 2010/25, which takes the Global Jobs
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Pact as a general framework for countries, encourages them to make a full
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use of it and raises awareness to promoting funding and fiscal support for less
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developed countries in order to help them in the implementation of the policy
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options and recommendations mentioned in the Global Jobs Pact,
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Pointing at the UN resolution A/RES/63/205, which calls the attention to the
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importance of considering the issue of the international financial system and
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development,
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Reminding every nation of the GA resolution A/RES/63/303, which addresses
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the social and human impacts of the crisis, such as but not limited to the
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increase in unemployment, hunger and infant and maternal mortality,
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Referring to the GA’s resolution A/RES/63/277, which has convened a United
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Nations conference regarding the world financial and economic crisis,
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requested a report by the Secretary General on the analytical work of the
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United Nations and the causes of the present crisis, invited the president of
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the ECOSOC to this conference in order to involve the United Nations
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Conference on Trade and Development as well as the special high-level
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meeting of the ECOSOC in 2009 and furthermore supported an official
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summary document of this conference proposing solutions to the crisis,
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1. Calls upon governments to urge their private investors and banks to
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regulate speculation in future markets in order to prevent citizens from
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becoming dependent on social welfare;
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2. Calls upon all nations to take collective measures against organizations
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they see responsible for banking speculation, as long as they refuse to
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accept the negative effects on the farmers involved and the measures
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are such as follow but not limited to these:
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a. Boycott on their services,
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b. Counter-campaign against their enterprise,
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c. Financing the corporate rivals of the speculating companies as a
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last resort only if other measures within the resolution are not
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effective,
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3. Asks international relief organizations like the WHO or the FAO to
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support a newly founded council for financial and non-financial aid to
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people suffering from the Great Hunger with:
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a. the name of Financing Against Malnutrition InterNational
Establishment (FAMINE),
b. the financial support from the G20 countries and those that are
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willing to cooperate and help in these inevitable humanitarian
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crises,
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c. the aim of establishing an international system that will allow us
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to keep banking speculation limited and regulated by monitoring
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and controlling,
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d. an annual report to the ECOSOC which contains:
i. the recent financial status handed in by the national bank
of each country within FAMINE,
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ii. the taken measures mentioned in operative clause two,
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iii. the amount of money spent on these acts,
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iv. the number of children taking part in the U.S.
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government-supported nutrition program or similar
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programs by other members of the UN,
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v. a profit and loss account handed in by the president of
the summit,
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vi. a cash flow statement and a balance sheet,
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vii. every country’s submission listing the possible risk factors
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of the process of our organization,
viii. all the previous points and is handed in every January;
e. members of every ministry of finance from the participating
countries, and NGO’s representatives,
f. a summit every six months in its headquarter, located in the
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United States of America, Washington D.C., where the recent
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activities concerning these issues are debated,
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g. a leadership with a rotational system every six months in the
order of the 2012 GDP rankings;
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4. Further requests every country to revise and if needed modify their
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laws and rules concerning their policy on protecting job security and
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employee’s rights, with the international community thereby coming
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closer to a mutually accepted solution that will guarantee welfare and a
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secure life of every citizen;
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5. Supports to convene a conference among the G20 on the issue of the
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food crisis to expand the activities of the Global Agricultural and Food
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Security Program (GAFSP) in order to aid targeted countries to make
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permanent improvements with the developing investments in food and
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agriculture;
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6. Recommends every country to increase their expenditure in the
agricultural sector from the national budget by 5%;
7. Asks the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank Group
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(WBG) to foster activities of both the Global Agriculture and Food
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Security Program and the FAMINE both financially and medically by:
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a. investing into the agriculture of LEDCs with the most
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impoverished situation,
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b. improving social protection,
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c. ameliorating hygienic and medical circumstances,
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d. developing a possible effectuation of child nutrition which is a
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fundamental and very complex problem of the food crisis;
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8. Suggests every nation’s possible solutions to bettering irrigation in
LEDCs in order to increase production;
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9. Expresses its appreciation towards the work of the Agricultural Market
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Information System (AMIS) on the market monitoring system thus
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enhancing market transparency and supporting the partnership
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between the ECOSOC and the AMIS in order to help the governments
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in verifying the current national economic situations through the
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monitoring system mentioned above and responding to global food
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price peaks fast and efficiently;
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10. Expresses its sympathy towards the work of Scaling Up Nutrition
(SUN) which addresses maternal and child nutrition, and further
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requests the engagement of further stakeholders in order to have them
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in more fields of the current issue since the partnership to the private
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sector is a potential possible solution;
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11. Calls the attention to Millennium Development Goal 1 (MDG1) whose
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task is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and to support this
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process by maintaining a mutual database on nutrition thereby
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enabling countries to observe all actions taken, since there are only
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three years until the deadline of the Millennium Development Goals;
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12. Decides to remain actively seized on the matter.