New York - 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.

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. (dpa)