For it is entering an inextricable maze when one thinks how easily smiles in photos are prevailed by the most refined western politicians to be bought by the un-refined, subduable Arabs who have forgotten the wisdom of their 10th century poet, Al-Mutanabbi, when advising, “If you see the canine of a line, do not think that the lion is smiling at you.” Very soon therefore, the lion will paws restlessly at everything that was formerly owned by the Arabs, roaring the closing of the curtain, to indicate the ending of the theatrical play. Perhaps it is better for one to leave their seat in the audience and travel back in history and time to understand how, firstly, the Middle East realm that were united in the Arab peninsula, got divided into lands and boarders.

One, consequently, would discover through the work of historians who Virginia Woolf points out “records not opinions but facts,” that the west had put their hands on this as well through their secret accord of Sykes-Picot agreement which was conducted in May 1916 between Great Britain, France and with the consent of Russia, for the detriment of the Ottoman Empire. The existence of this was diffused to the world through the break of the 1917 Russian Revolution.

What this agreement wanted to accomplish is gaining power and control over the Middle East and its surrounding lands. The French were to be given control over Syria, Lebanon, South-Eastern Turkey, and northern Iraq; whereas the British were content with owning power over Southern Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Arabia, and areas surrounding the Persian Gulf. Jerusalem on the other hand, was to be ruled by an international body. One needs to clarify that these two western powers didn’t ‘own’ these territories in the sense of the word, but controlled the governments and its administration (achieving the division of the area: dividing based on economic factors) and thus, one is permitted to use this term, in this context.

Consequently, one is required to learn about their past for a better understanding of their future. To divine this future would be exemplified through the study of history which roots through the blossoming of remembrance.

Herodotus, “whom Cicero called pater historiae,” embraced the task of history Arendt writes, in order “to save human deeds from the futility that comes from oblivion.” Should Arabs remember their past accordingly would elevate their status from that of oblivious to a more dynamic one approaching ahead start to the chess board, relishing the only wining strategic plan, while maintaining the safety of their king (territory) throughout the game and managing to tame the bitter, savage, greedy lion.

I would like to acquaint the reader that our current lion, if I’d borrow from Richard Steele, would “groan under life, and bewail those who are believed from it.” But, is the lion to be blamed? Not exactly I would say, for the Arab societies compose of such individuals Gayle Pemberton, warned to be aware of. Individuals with no memory of their past and whom are powerless to connect pervious events and current ones to future acts, who would wake up to scratch the same mistakes yet another time. These communities I would say with utmost confidence are the mileage of ignorance, lacking premonition to posterity, for they unfortunately took the acidic bait in what they called “The Arab Spring.”

Spring (Aniksi) – a war term was firstly used by Herodotus in The Persian Wars where in book seven (POLYMNIA) Gelo talks of the lack of order recipients (from the Athenian men) even if there is commanders to give orders, telling them that “ye had best make haste back to Greece, and say that the spring of her year is lost to her.” What this conveys is that Gelo’s troops are compared to spring (beginning of summer and is the finest season of the year) transmitting the meaning that his troops are the premium of the Greek army and a deprivation of his coalition would be like a year, the spring, is executed and drawn from it. “Arab Spring” therefore is the beginning of the end of hope for pure revolution and an end to the foundation of progress in the region, where no flower blooms, no tree grows and night refuse the recuperation of dawn.

One would walk into isolated roads reminiscent of previous decisions and remember that at the approach of these decisions, there were two voices communicating with equivalent power in their mind: one rational speaking which studies the reasons behind the west need and urge to help peoples living in far lands and inform of the realization that should they accompany that flow would driven them into floods of regret and live with the understanding that they have sold their country freely, with no worth of charge earned; for this torrent flood they have engaged in, no human power could save them from it. The other voice speaks with passion and converses of the urge one needs to consider in their memory, of the deprived years they have had experienced thus far in surrendering to dictatorship and looks for but a hole of escape. Perhaps in the peaceful silent moment one holds between themselves would bend towards the first one, but within their Arabic society they would conform to believe in the latter, thinking they’d have power over their country in embracing liberalization, which in turn they believe, would secure happiness.

But, what is power if not a mere word one assumes understands. Leo Tolstoy asked a long time ago in War and Peace “What is the cause of historical events? Power (he says). What is power (then)? Power is the sum total of wills transferred to one person. On what condition are the wills of the masses transferred to one person? On condition that the person express the will of the whole people. That is, power is power. That is, power is a word the meaning of which we do not understand.” In the arena and principle of International Relations or politics, possessing power (a word a meaning of which no one truly comprehends) is the force dominating all states, even if it brings with it corporeal suffering and winter solstice all year long.

Thucydides asks if the relations between states could be directed by principles/norms of justice, when power is an important factor to be considered. If we look at the lion or lions governing us today, the answer to Thucydides question would exclude the word justice and replace it with sadism. For both Politics and International Relations for that matter are governed by egoistic and languid individuals exacting more power with absence of moral values. These factors therefore present “a conflict-based paradigm of international relations” where power develops into the solstitial concern and where there is little, to no residue of morality.

Does this overwhelming idea and enforcement of power provide happiness? Graham Greene, according to Shirley Hazzard, converse on happiness saying, “point me out the happy man and I will point you out either egotism, selfishness, evil- or else an absolute ignorance”. Flaubert like Greene also felt that “to be stupid, selfish, and have good health, are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.” Now a day is no difference which hurts me to say, that happiness is achieved when one holds a blind eye to the pure truth, is ignorant of the lion and its plans, and approaches the chess board thinking it would provide ecstasy of mere moments of happiness.

The conference was held in St. Petersburg in the Russian Federation, within the World Bank’s regional migration program in Europe and Central Asia (ECA). A wide and strong community of experts and practitioners from nine CIS countries exchanged their knowledge, skills and views on the challenges that come with migration, which are critical for countries to address right now.

MIRPAL is a community of migration and remittance practitioners and policymakers from ECA countries. This peer-learning network was officially launched in May 2010 at a conference in Moscow. A series of learning events organized prior to the May 2010 launching conference served as a foundation for the development of the network.

Many countries in the region have experienced increasing inflows from migrant worker remittances over the past several years. Economic growth – as well as poverty reduction achievements – in most of these countries has been intertwined with migration and remittance trends. The Bank has undertaken the challenge of helping countries throughout the region cope with ongoing issues associated with migration and remittances through both lending initiatives and migration policy improvement.

This year, discussions revolved around economic and social aspects of migrant people’s integration.

To begin with, labor migration was discussed jointly by economists and anthropologists for the first time at the conference, thanks to contributions from the European University at St. Petersburg. The purpose was to get a comprehensive picture of the integration motivations of labor migrants in Russia. On one hand, migrants are willing to improve their wellbeing in terms of the level of income, while on the other, the time spent in a destination country reshapes their individual life experience, often affecting their social status.

In other words, immigrants’ behavior patterns are not limited by economic motivation alone.

Destination countries often transform migrants’ social status – but there are ways to get around such situations.

For example, a person qualified as a doctor may end up working a low- skilled job in a new country out of necessity. Still, this person could continue to pursue former professional activities by providing medical advice to the migrant community members informally, for example.

Job placement is crucial for economic integration capacities of immigrant workers. Therefore, organized recruitment continues to feature high on the agenda of policy-makers.

“Organized recruitment requires joint efforts of sending and receiving countries,” said Elena Dunaeva, head of Federal Migration Service office in St. Petersburg. “Pre-departure training programs should be in the domain of a country of origin, while a destination country could ensure job placement through concrete employment offers supported by invitation letters issued by migration authorities.”

Another feature of the MIRPAL conference was the case-study approach: St. Petersburg hosting the conference this year served as an example of good practice of integration efforts targeting immigrants. The city’s Committee on Social Policies and Employment presented a recently adopted program “Migration” and highlighted the commitment of local authorities to a more regulated management of migration. The commitment was based on the understanding that migration is a challenging yet natural process to contend with, but one that provided tremendous development benefits.

Labor migration in the CIS region is acknowledged as beneficial for both sending and receiving countries. For more than three years now, the World Bank, IOM and UN Women, has been involved in Central Asia Regional Migration Program (CARMP) initiated by the UK Department for International development (DfID). The CARMP program covering four MIRPAL countries (Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan) will continue with the Bank in charge of building awareness, providing analytical support and ensuring sustainable coordination between participating countries via high- level policy dialogue.

In an effort to move the conversation forward, MIRPAL is opening its doors to more experts and practitioners from other ECA countries. With regard to the areas of migration research, MIRPAL members accompanied by the World Bank expertise are determined to address implications of the ongoing integration processes in the region.

“The Secretary-General repeats his commitment to support non-violent, Egyptian-led approaches to meeting the aspirations of the Egyptian people,” said a statement issued by his spokesperson.

Egypt has been undergoing a democratic transition following the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak two years ago in the wake of mass protests. Last month, renewed protests – in which dozens of people were killed and wounded – led to the Egyptian military deposing President Mohamed Morsy. The Constitution was then suspended and an interim government set up.

Ban applauded the “deep courage and commitment” of the Egyptian people over the past two years in exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression in support of their respective visions for moving Egypt forward, said the statement.

“Yet in light of current tensions and given the risk of potential violence, the Secretary-General also believes it is of critical importance that all sides in Egypt – those in positions of authority as well as those protesting in the street – should urgently reconsider their current actions and language.

“For this reason, the Secretary-General urges Egyptians to set aside or avoid actions and words likely to be perceived by others as provocative,” the statement continued. “Instead they should try to look creatively at new approaches toward a genuinely inclusive political process that would be rooted in reconciliation. In the Secretary-General’s view, political strategies need to adjust to evolving circumstances and realities if they are to serve their country.”

Ban called on those in authority, on all sides, to exercise their leadership and their responsibility to do whatever can be done to prevent further loss of life among the Egyptian people.

“As long as they avoid the path of violence, the Secretary-General is confident that the Egyptian people, representing one of the world’s great and historic civilizations, will successfully find a way forward. The United Nations remains fully engaged in supporting Egypt.”

With the approaching 2015 deadline to reach the eight anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said much progress has been made – including declining poverty rates, the near eradication of polio, increased immunizations, more girls attending school, improved access to clean water and nutrition, and more children surviving and thriving beyond their fifth birthdays than ever before.

“But these results are no excuse for rest,” Mr. Lake stressed in the report’s forward. “Our goal is to reach every child, everywhere, no matter how distant or remote, no matter what barriers stand in the way,” he added.

Among its successes, the agency highlights in its Our Story 2012 report the use of mobile phone texting to register births in Nigeria and Uganda, the lack of which in the past has prevented children in those countries from attending school and made them more vulnerable to trafficking and other dangers.

Similarly, this year’s report also highlights the use of a RapidSMS programme to quickly diagnose and treat HIV-infected infants in Zambia, cutting turnaround time for test result from 44 days to 26.

In addition, innovative partnerships, such as between UNICEF and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), led to the creation of the Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children to improve access to life-saving health interventions for children under five years of age and women of childbearing age. These activities are in support of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Every Woman Every Child initiative.

In the report, the agency said it and its partners responded to 286 humanitarian situations in 79 countries last year. Among those, the Syrian conflict where UNICEF said it delivered safe water benefitting more than 100,000 people in refugee camps and among host communities, and winter supplies to more than 260,000 people in the country.

The UN agency also said it helped to provide access to uninterrupted education for nearly 80,000 children, provided psychosocial care for an estimated 47,000 children and supported measles vaccination for more than 1.4 million children.

“The organization remains both a world leader in the procurement of supplies for children and the world’s largest provider of vaccines to developing countries,” according to the report, which added that UNICEF’s procurement strategies and financing mechanisms last year generated savings of more than $197 million.

The report also notes that cash contributions to the UN agency rose eight per cent over the previous year, “underscoring donor trust in UNICEF’s ability to leverage its expertise, technical know-how, broad partnerships and global reach.”

UNICEF said it joined the International Aid Transparency Initiative last year, and expanded its public disclosure by releasing online internal audit reports, evaluations and country office annual reports.

This controversial topic of gold mining in Chalkidiki has divided Greek public opinion. Stratoudakis, CEO of Hellas Gold, the Greek branch of Canadian Eldorado Gold, the main investor, says: “The country and the government seek capital. The total investment of the company in Greece will exceed one billion dollars in the next five years and that will increase exports of mining products.” He continues to emphasize that “the mining reserve in Skouries is rich and the drilling will produce not only gold, but also copper, lead, silver and zinc.”

Despite the approval of the mining company’s technical study and the governmental green light, the local residents took the matter to the streets as well as to justice. Eight local residents’ associations appealed against the 2011 decision that allowed Hellas Gold to go ahead with the drilling, but the Council of State upheld the ministerial decision as ekathimerini.com reports.

Since it is common knowledge that Greece desperately seeks investment and the Eldorado Gold will bring in cash for the Greek state, then why all this fuss and unrest? It was just last Sunday, on Mother’s Day, when female protesters were attacked by tear gas released by the police. As it becomes evident, the profile of the protester against the drilling of gold in Skouries does not fit the typical protester. So why would family people, homemakers, subject themselves to being arrested if the investment project will secure jobs for their children -1,500 to 1,600 positions as estimated by the company- and help fund the country’s budget deficit?

As it is clearly stated at the company’s site eldoradogold.com, the Skouries gold-copper project has an expected mine life of 27 years. However, the forest of Skouries, in the middle of which the company wants to establish an open-pit mine, has existed for centuries. “Those trees date back to the era of Alexander the Great. Skouries is an ancient and protected wood, with environmental impact for both Greeks and Europeans,” said Theocharis Zagas, president of the Hellenic Forestry Society, as quoted in Exandas film documentary on the subject.

On top of eliminating some of the ancient fauna of the country, there is a voiced concern from environmental organisations for polluting the main freshwater source for sixteen villages in the region. Not to mention that the nature of the mine is expected to also pollute the air, as it has been calculated by the company that the open pit will generate 3,000 tons of toxic dust per hour.

In an ironic twist of events, Environment Ministry has recently announced that 3,9 million euros have been allocated for the operation of forest services and forest stations. This is how the government plans to help protect forests from fire. What about deforestation and pollution? What really stands between the mining company and implementation of their plans for drilling gold is the active involvement of local people. Residents of the area oppose to drilling as they do not want to undermine (no pun intended) the quality of their lives and jeopardise the future of their children, according to the Hellenic Mining Watch.

The social unrest in the area takes a whole new perspective when taken into consideration the possible damage on the environment that this investment may have. Therefore, the question should be whether the benefits in money outweigh the environmental toll caused by gold mining in Skouries. What kind of investment do we want? A short-sighted or a far-sighted one? What is best for now or what is best for next generations? If I was to answer this dilemma, reaching for gold (and other minerals) should be the very last resort when all other options for attracting investment have failed. Have they?

The first round of distributions consisted of two-month food rations for about 12,000 people in Geissan and 39,000 in Kurmuk, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced yesterday.

It plans to reach people in six localities before the rainy season begins in May but it still needs some $20 million to secure 17,000 metric tons of food for the response.

In what it called a “major breakthrough,” WFP last week announced that the first UN food rations reached conflict-affected people in Blue Nile state since 2011, when the isolated rural area near the South Sudan border was cut off by insecurity and movement restrictions imposed by the Government.

“While we continue to strive for access to all areas, this is still a major breakthrough which will enable us to assist those who continue to be displaced by the conflict or those who have decided to return to their homes and are in dire need of food assistance,” WFP Country Director Adnan Khan said at the time.

Fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) broke out in the state after neighbouring South Sudan seceded under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a decades-long civil war. The fighting in Blue Nile displaced and then isolated tens of thousands of people.

The call to action, which comes on the eve of World Water Day, aims to focus on improving hygiene, changing social norms, better managing human waste and waste-water, and, by 2025, completely eliminating the practice of open defecation, which perpetuates the vicious cycle of disease and entrenched poverty.

“I am determined to energize action that will lead to results,” said Eliasson. “I am calling on all actors – government, civil society, business and international organizations – to commit to measurable action and to mobilize the resources to rapidly increase access to basic sanitation.

“Let’s face it – this is a problem that people do not like to talk about. But it goes to the heart of ensuring good health, a clean environment and fundamental human dignity for billions of people – and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. With just over a thousand days for action before the 2015 MDG deadline, we have a unique window of opportunity to deliver a generational change.”

The MDG target to halve the proportion of people without access to sanitation has helped to raise the profile of the issue, and 1.8 billion people gained access to improved sanitation since 1990, but there is still far to go, notes a news release on the new initiative. Meanwhile, the MDG target to halve the proportion of people without access to improved sources of water has already been met.

Of the world’s seven billion people, six billion have mobile phones. However, only 4.5 billion have access to toilets or latrines – meaning that 2.5 billion people, mostly in rural areas, do not have proper sanitation. In addition, 1.1 billion people still defecate in the open.

The countries where open defecation is most widely practiced are the same countries with the highest numbers of under-five child deaths, high levels of under-nutrition and poverty, and large wealth disparities.

“We strongly support this effort to increase the focus on sanitation,” said the Deputy Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Martin Mogwanja, who noted that ending open defecation will contribute to a 36 per cent reduction in diarrhoea, which kills three quarters of a million children under five each year.

“We can reduce the cases of diarrhoea in children under five by a third simply by expanding the access of communities to sanitation and eliminating open defecation,” he told reporters at the launch of the call to action at UN Headquarters. “In fact, diarrhoea is the second largest killer of children under five in the developing world and this is caused largely by poor sanitation and inadequate hygiene.”

Mogwanja said he witnessed personally the impact of open defecation in both development and humanitarian contexts when he worked in Pakistan. A total sanitation project was developed there for the flood-affected areas, together with non-governmental and government partners. In less than two years, over six million people gained access to toilets and are now living in open defecation-free communities.

“But the effort succeeded not by building latrines; it succeeded by getting people to recognize and to talk about the problem,” he stated.

The private sector also played an important part in this transformation, he said, by engaging in sanitation marketing activities, and developing a supply chain which ensured that people had access to the right products in the right place at the right time.

“And it worked,” Mogwanja stated, noting that with the direct support of UNICEF and its partners, over 25 million people in over 44,000 communities now live in open defecation-free environments.

“This can also improve the safety of women and girls, who are often targeted when they are alone outdoors. And providing safe and private toilets may also help girls to stay in school which we know can increase their future earnings and help break the cycle of poverty.”

The call to action will not set up any new structures or funding mechanisms, but focus on generating action at the community level – one community at a time.

“Water is central to the well-being of people and the planet,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his video message for the International Year of Water Cooperation 2013. “We must work together to protect and carefully manage this fragile, finite resource.”

More than half of the world’s people depend daily on water resources shared by more than one country and 90 per cent of the global population live in countries that share river or lake basins. However, 60 per cent of the world’s 276 international river basins lack any type of cooperative management framework.

Ban stressed that with rising demands and changing climate conditions, it will be crucial for countries to work together to ensure every person has access to quality water.

“Each year brings new pressures on water,” Mr. Ban said. “One-third of the world’s people already live in countries with moderate to high water stress. Competition is growing between farmers and herders; industry and agriculture; town and country. Upstream and downstream, and across borders, we need to cooperate for the benefit of all – now and in the future.”

The General Assembly proclaimed 2013 International Year for Water Cooperation in 2010, following a proposal from Tajikistan. The Year will serve to raise awareness and prompt action on the multiple dimensions of water cooperation, such as sustainable and economic development, climate change and food security.

“Overexploitation, management, financing of water resources, all of these aspects are incredibly important and cooperation at different levels is therefore critical,” UNESCO Science Specialist Ana Persic said during a press conference to mark the start of the Year at UN Headquarters in New York.

Persic added that the benefits of intensifying cooperation include poverty reduction, equity, economic growth, and the protection of the environment. “We know water is critical for human life, but it is also critical for life on Earth if we want to protect and sustainably manage the planet we have.”

The UN representative of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Paul Egerton, underlined the link between climate change and water, stressing that extreme weather events result in desertification or extreme flooding in different areas and hinder development and access to safe water.

“Water scarcity triggers migration, refugees, situations where basic human rights are weakened or threatened,” Egerton said, adding that fewer resources can also trigger conflict and governments need to address these risks immediately.

The official launch of the Year took place today at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Headquarters in Paris, France. Opened by the agency’s Director-General Irina Bokova, the event gathered representatives from inter-governmental organizations, non-governmental organization (NGOs), scientists and policymakers from around the world to discuss themes such as existing mechanisms for water cooperation and regional, national and local cooperation around river basins.

As part of the launch, an exhibition entitled “Water at the heart of science” was inaugurated at UNESCO, and students from Japan travelled to meet their French counterparts to share their experiences related to water and prepare a youth declaration on water cooperation to be presented to the other participants.

Cooperation on water issues will also be the theme for World Water Day, observed on 22 March.

“The situation in Syria, as we all know, continues to deteriorate and that means that there are greater needs… more people in need but also that the needs are more acute as the coping mechanisms continue to collapse,” John Ging, the Director of Operations for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told a news conference in New York.

“The biggest humanitarian effort in Syria is the effort of the population to support their brothers and sisters at this incredibly difficult time,” he added. “Families are hosting so many people and they themselves are also affected by the situation.”

Mr. Ging, who recently led an inter-agency humanitarian mission to Syria and Lebanon, cited a funding shortfall that is affecting the ability of the UN and its partners to deliver vital assistance, including food, water and medical supplies.

His comments come ahead of the humanitarian pledging conference that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will chair in Kuwait on Wednesday. The conference seeks to raise $1.5 billion to assist civilians affected by the ongoing conflict over the next six months, including those inside the country as well as those taking refuge beyond its borders.

In addition to those uprooted by the conflict, at least 60,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in early 2011.

The particularly harsh winter has compounded the suffering of people in need, especially IDPs living in shelters lacking adequate insulation with no winter clothes and no blankets. Lack of fuel and electricity has been a major challenge for those affected as well as for those trying to deliver vital humanitarian aid, according to OCHA.

Despite immense security challenges and limited access, UN agencies and humanitarian partners have scaled up aid and are reaching people in all governorates across the country. The World Food Programme (WFP) is currently reaching about 1.5 million people a month with vital food assistance.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have helped vaccinate millions of children against measles and polio, while the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and partners continue to support hundreds of thousands of refugees in neighbouring countries.

WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin returned to region on Sunday to visit the Za’atari refugee camp amid concerns of an influx of Syrian refugees crossing the border to Jordan. This is the second time that she has visited the refugee camps in Jordan in less than three months.

“We are significantly increasing the number of meals we provide to people as they cross, but the scale of human suffering is growing, and neighbouring countries like Jordan are exhausting their resources to deal with the crisis,” said Ms. Cousin.

More than 30,000 Syrians have arrived at Za’atari camp since the beginning of the year, and thousands more cross the border every night. WFP provides ready-to-eat food to Syrians arriving at the camp and, once they have settled in, supplies them with food rations to cook in communal kitchens. The camp is a temporary home to around 65,000 people.

Ahead of Wednesday’s pledging conference, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is urging donors not to ignore the plight of some 525,000 Palestine refugees in Syria.

“While all civilians in Syria are bearing the brunt of the violence, the present situation of Palestinians in Syria is exceptional,” said Commissioner General Filippo Grandi.

Most of the Palestinian refugees in Syria now rely on UNRWA as their sole means of support, the agency pointed out in a news release. Several UNRWA schools in the country are currently acting as a last place of refuge for 9,000 people, while tens of thousands languish under harsh conditions in neighbouring countries. Some 20,000 people have fled to the over-crowded refugee camps of Lebanon.

The agency added that many Palestinians in Syria have been killed, including five UNRWA staff members.

In a news release, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said its most recent Food Price Index dropped 1.1 per cent from November. The decline from 213 to 209 points was largely due to the continuing decrease in the international prices of cereals, oils and fats.

The Index measures the monthly change in international prices of a basket of 55 food commodities, including meat, dairy, sugar, and cereals. The prices for cereals also increased slightly, while sugar and oils prices fell.

“The result marks a reversal from the situation last July, when sharply rising prices prompted fears of a new food crisis,” said the Assistant Director-General in charge of FAO’s Economic and Social Development Department, Jomo Sundaram.

“But international coordination, including through the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), as well as flagging demand in a stagnant international economy, helped ensure the price spike was short-lived and calmed markets so that 2012 prices ended up below the previous year’s levels,” he added.

According to its website, the AMIS initiative – for which the Secretariat is based at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy – seeks to enhance food market transparency and encourage coordination of policy action in response to market uncertainty, mainly focusing on four foods that are particularly important in international markets: wheat, maize, rice and soybeans.

As a whole, the Index averaged 212 points in 2012, seven per cent less than in 2011. The sharpest falls in prices were registered in sugars, dairy products and oils, and to a lesser extent in cereals and meat.

From July to September, cereal prices had steadily increased due to uncertainties and tight supplies. However, they began dropping in October because of weaker demand for supplies in industrial uses.

In December, maize prices fell sharply as large export supplies in South America relieved market pressure. Rice prices also dipped last month due to the expectations of good harvests, but wheat values remained virtually unchanged.

Oils and fats prices experienced a 1.9 per cent drop mainly due to the continued build up of large global inventories of palm oil, and sugar prices decreased only marginally. FAO noted that an increase in global sugar production, especially in Brazil, kept international prices down for much of the second half of 2012.

Meat prices registered a slight decrease as pig prices fell by 2 per cent, the agency stated, while dairy prices rose by 0.9 per cent – they were the only commodities to have experienced a rise in price as the dairy market is increasingly susceptible to supply changes related to pasture conditions, feed availability and affordability.