UN Says Food Prices Drop Again

A U.N. agency plays down fears of a looming world food crisis as international coordination and flagging demand have led to a drop in food prices for the third consecutive month in December. The food price index of the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization edged down 1.1 percent with drops in the international prices of major cereals, oils and fats. For 2012 as a whole it was down 7 percent from 2011. Earlier this year the agency had warned that bad weather, including severe drought in North America, could trigger a repeat of the rioting and unrest that hit parts of the developing world in 2007-2008.

Almost half of the world's food thrown away, report finds

As much as half of the world's food, amounting to two billion tonnes worth, ends up being thrown away, a UK-based report has claimed. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers said the waste was being caused by poor storage, strict sell-by dates, bulk offers and consumer fussiness. (..) The report - Global Food; Waste Not, Want Not - also found that huge amounts of water, totalling 550 billion cubic metres, were being used to grow crops that were never eaten. (..) The United Nations predicts there will be an extra three billion mouths to feed by 2075 as the global population swells to 9.5 billion.

Syrian refugees in Lebanon facing bitter winter

As the Syria conflict further escalates, refugees continue to cross borders to seek safety in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt. According to the U.N., the number of Syrians who have registered as refugees -- or are being assisted in these countries -- now exceeds 540,000, with an increase of over 140,000 during the past six weeks alone. I recently traveled to eastern Lebanon to work with Mercy Corps and assist the refugees who have fled their homes in Syria. It was a cold, foggy day with a constant downpour of icy rain.

The Internationalization of Women's Issues

“Women issues are world issues,” Michelle Bachelet, the executive director of U.N. Women and former president of Chile, said recently. (..) Familiar issues like equal pay, workplace policies, family-work balance and political power haven’t gone away in the United States or anywhere else. Basic needs and basic rights remain elusive for many women in the developing world. And those issues, too, will not go away anytime soon. But more women in more regions of the world are stepping up and living better lives, just about everyone in the field agrees. And as the old women’s issues become global, the expectations rise, and the challenges get larger.