A/HRC/9/23 page 9 changes, particularly mandates for the use of agrofuels, the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU, or changes in the regimes governing international trade in agriculture or intellectual property rights, per definition, could not be considered in those forecasts. Therefore, we should be prepared for not only higher than average prices or a slowing down of the decline in prices, but also for price volatility.12 As noted by the World Bank, “managing grain price risk is a fundamental requirement in a world characterized by more volatile international grain prices and recurring supply shocks that will likely result from global warming”.13 Acknowledging uncertainty about the future evolution of prices, rather than potentially misleading forecasts about their possible evolution, should be guiding policy choices. For this reason, the present report puts resilience, as a condition for coping with uncertainty and thus guaranteeing access to food for all, at its centre. 12. Annex I also offers a summary of the reactions that followed the global food crisis of 2007-2008. It is not the purpose of the present report to review in detail the initiatives taken at the operational level by the executive agencies of the United Nations, the international financial institutions or regional development banks; nor would it be feasible here to describe the outcome of the meetings which, in different forums, focused on the global food crisis and the answers to it. A consensus has emerged that the adoption of short-term measures should not only aim at alleviating the lot of the hungry, particularly the urban poor, and particularly by the provision of food aid , but that, for the reasons explained above, it should also aim at improving the productivity of small-holders. The question to be addressed by the Council is how the various initiatives and commitments which have been recalled could be guided by a human rights framework and what that would imply. With the exception of the resolution adopted by the Council at its seventh special session and of reference to the right to food guidelines in the outcome document adopted by the High-Level Conference on World Food Security convened by FAO in Rome from 3 to 5 June 2008, the human right to adequate food has been almost entirely absent from the current discussions. This is not of merely symbolic, or anecdotal, significance. It leads to a situation in which an important set of tools that could address the global food crisis is neglected. Developing responses under the framework of the human right to food would ensure that these responses are better guided by the needs of the hungry and the malnourished. It would pave the way for targeting, but also for prioritization, coordination, accountability and participation. Whether the right to food has been left out by design or by ignorance of its operational consequences, it should now be brought back. 13. It is in this spirit that the observations below are submitted. They focus on the future of the global food system. The immediate reactions to the crisis are referred to only insofar as they provide indications about the risk that the human rights dimension will be neglected in the setting-up of mechanisms ensuring improved food and nutrition security for the future. 12 13 On current volatility in agricultural commodities, see FAO Food Outlook, June 2008, at 55-7. Framework Document for proposed loans, credits, and grants in the amount of US$ 1.2 billion equivalent for a Global Food Crisis Response Program (GFRP), 29 May 2008, at 6.