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H. Desert locust situation and action required
94. The Conference emphasized the importance attached to the desert locust as a threat to crops and pastures in many Member Nations. It recognized the strategy of preventive control as the basis for locust management. The Conference appreciated the efforts made by locust-affected countries and the donor community in mobilizing resources, but noted that additional resources were needed to improve effectiveness and to reduce use of toxic chemicals, environmental contamination and hazards to human health.
95. The Conference recognized the importance of the EMPRES (Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pest Diseases) Programme, which is focused on the Central Region, and stressed the need for action in other regions. It therefore called on the Director-General to consider, in the framework of available resources, the extension of the EMPRES programme to other important locust-affected areas.
96. The Conference called on the international community to give its full support to the comprehensive EMPRES programme, to enable it to cover the full range of long-term activities designed to find solutions to the locust problem.
97. The Conference called on locust-affected countries to strengthen their national control capacities with the aid and assistance of FAO.
98. The Conference adopted the following Resolution:
Desert locust control
THE CONFERENCE
Reaffirming United Nations General Assembly Resolution 48/20 of 19 November 1993 concerning emergency action for desert locust control in Africa,
Recalling Resolution 5/93 adopted at the Twenty-seventh Session of the FAO Conference,
Noting the worrying situation of locust invasions in West Africa, Northwest Africa, the Red Sea and Southwest Asia, including Pakistan and India,
Noting also with concern that, despite efforts by the countries concerned and the international community, the situation remains worrying, due primarily to the lack of sufficient resources to ensure continuity in sustained control,
Underlining the importance of close and permanent coordination and cooperation between FAO, UN organizations and agencies, and the international and regional funding institutions in order to ensure the necessary resources for efficient and coordinated control,
Convinced of the need to redouble efforts to release substantial resources to aid Member Nations in desert locust control:
1. Invites the Director-General to appeal to the organizations, institutions, bodies and programmes of the United Nations system to supply the technical and financial assistance needed for the intensification of preventive desert locust control, and to prepare a plan of action specifying the modalities for coordinating all activities in this domain;
2. Urges the international community, in light of the critical emergency situation, to increase the flow of financial resources earmarked for desert locust control, particularly in those areas not yet involved in the EMPRES Programmer
3. Requests that the Director-General proceed at the earliest possible date to consult with Member Nations, international agencies, international funding institutions and the various aid organizations and agencies, with a view to the establishment of a relief fund to cope with emergency situations arising from desert locust invasions, and to ensure that adequate resources are made available;
4. Reaffirms the need to create or reinforce the capability of national locust control units;
5. Requests the Director-General to consider extending the EMPRES Programme to other regions, and particularly the western breeding and invasion areas of the desert locust.
(Adopted 31 October 1995)
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