Njeri Rugene
5 September 2008
Accra — The World Bank has asked the international community to urgently implement measures to contain the food crisis that has pushed millions of people in vulnerable countries to the verge of extreme poverty.
The Bank's group President Robert Zoellick also called for transparency and accountability in management and delivery of foreign aid if it was to have any impact on the lives of poor people.
Addressing delegates at the conference on improving quality of aid ahead of its closure on Thursday, the World Bank boss said the global food crisis had undermined efforts to overcome poverty.
Consequently, he said, more "practical" measures needed to be taken urgently to deal with the crisis.
He called for the lifting of export bans and restrictions for humanitarian food.
"We know these policies exacerbate the current crisis and harm the most vulnerable, they must go."
He pledged the World Bank's support in removal of the bans acknowledging that it was often difficult for countries to do so.
Mr Zoellick also called for increasing predictability, flexibility and amount of food aid saying restrictions and "onerous conditions on food aid meant higher costs."
"These should be removed to ensure that food gets quickly to where it is most needed."
The Bank boss talked of the need to reform the international aid system of delivery so it could have a greater impact on the poor.
Donors were asked to honour their commitments three years ago to increase funding to developing countries saying the lenders were $39 billion short of the 2010 target.
He also talked of the importance of speeding up aid while making it more flexible and channeling the money through recipient country's national budgets.
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