A former leader of Switzerland who was instrumental in his country joining the United Nations eight years ago has been chosen by the world body’s 192 member states to serve as the next president of the General Assembly.

Joseph Deiss, 64, who was elected this morning by acclamation, will succeed Ali Treki when he takes over the presidency in mid-September as the General Assembly’s 65th session begins.

Accepting the post “with great hope and solid conviction,” Mr. Deiss told the Assembly that the world has entered an era of increasing interdependence.

“Everything is moving faster and coming closer,” he said. “New global challenges have also emerged – climate change, economic and financial crises, terrorism and global crime, extremism of all kinds – in addition to the perennial problems of war and poverty.

They all require collective and urgent responses. More than ever before, we need to act together to be effective.”

The president-elect later called on member states today to return to the goals set out in the UN Charter and guide their work by the principles of peace, friendship and cooperation.

“I was struck by the importance that we give in the Charter to the idea of friendship that goes much further than just defending the interests of our countries,” he told journalists at a press conference at UN headquarters in New York.

Mr. Deiss’ first major event as president will be the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) summit in September, where world leaders will be asked to accelerate progress to reach the anti-poverty goals by their target date of 2015.

As a former economics professor, the president-elect said he would focus the Assembly’s agenda in 2010-11 on global governance in general and economic governance, as well as Security Council reform, climate change and biodiversity, and food security.

Earlier today, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro spoke on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in conveying congratulations to Mr. Deiss.

“The president-elect brings great experience to the job – as a scholar, as a parliamentarian, and as a government minister,” she said. “He knows the immense value of the United Nations, having led Switzerland’s accession campaign to the organization.”

Despite having a UN office in Geneva, Switzerland did not sign on as a UN member state until 2002 for fear that membership would tarnish its long-standing neutrality.

While serving as Swiss foreign minister between 1999 and 2002, Mr. Deiss worked to allay such concerns as headed of the accession bid. In 2004 he served as president of the Swiss Confederation for a year.

Global prices of food could climb by as much as 40 percent in the coming decade, as the global population continues to surge, a new United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report released today says.

The Agriculture Outlook 2010-19 anticipates that wheat and coarse grain prices could jump to levels of between 15 and 40 percent higher than they were between 1997 and 2006, while vegetable oil and dairy prices are also projected to rise by more than 40 percent.

Spikes in livestock prices are not expected to be as marked, even in the face of rising global demand for meat which is set to outpace demand for other commodities as some segments of the population in emerging economies alter their dietary habits due to increased wealth.

The report, jointly published with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), notes that global agricultural output will ease in the next decade, but food production will meet the demand generated by surging population growth by 2050.

However, even if enough food is produced to feed the world’s people, recent price spikes and the economic crisis have resulted in stepped-up hunger and food insecurity, with some one billion people now believed to be undernourished.

The publication calls for enhanced agricultural production and productivity as well as a well-functioning, rules-based trading system to spur fair competition and ensure that food can move from surplus to deficit areas.

“The role of developing countries in international markets is growing quickly, and as their impact grows, their policies also have an increasing bearing on conditions in global markets,” FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said at the report’s launch in Rome.

As a result, these nations’ role and contribution is global policy is crucial, he stressed, urging a more global scope to discussions on fighting hunger and malnutrition.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke with the head of Kyrgyzstan’s interim government today regarding the crisis in the south, as United Nations agencies launched operations to assist the thousands of civilians affected by the violence.

Mr. Ban told Roza Otunbaeva that the UN is closely coordinating with other organizations and players to respond to the crisis, in which more than 100 people have reportedly been killed, at least 1,300 injured and some 75,000 displaced as a result of the clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that erupted last week.

The Secretary-General voiced deep concern about the violence, especially given the inter-ethnic character of the unrest, in a separate phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He also thanked Russia for its efforts to address the humanitarian situation.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has launched an emergency operation to provide logistics and feed civilians caught in the crisis, while calling on all sides to allow the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian supplies, particularly in the southern city of Osh.

“This crisis is unfolding rapidly and WFP is mobilizing its global expertise to ensure that the vulnerable – particularly women and children – do not suffer,” said Executive Director Josette Sheeran. “We implore all sides to ensure humanitarian access to the vulnerable, trapped by the crisis.”

The agency noted that transporting aid from the capital, Bishkek, is difficult, as roads are not safe and commercial trucking companies are reluctant to risk their vehicles.

WFP currently has 3,000 metric tons of food pre-positioned in Kyrgyzstan – enough to feed 87,000 people for two months.

The Uzbek government estimates that around 75,000 people from Kyrgyzstan have crossed over and are seeking refuge on its territory. WFP is positioning itself to operate in both countries if needed.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offered its assistance to Uzbek authorities who are already dealing with needs of the displaced.

The agency’s spokesperson, Andrej Mahecic, told reporters in Geneva that the first of six planned cargo flights, each carrying 40 tons of UNHCR relief supplies for refugees fleeing the violence is scheduled to leave Dubai tomorrow morning.

The first UNHCR-chartered flight will be loaded with 800 lightweight tents to meet rapidly growing shelter needs, Mr. Mahecic said. The subsequent five flights will be loaded with blankets, sleeping mats, kitchen sets and plastic sheeting for emergency shelters.

“In total, we plan to deliver some 240 tons of humanitarian assistance from our central emergency stockpile in Dubai. Upon arrival in Uzbekistan the supplies will be loaded onto trucks and taken immediately to various sites hosting refugees in close coordination with the Government,” he said.

Part of the UNHCR emergency team is travelling today in advance of these flights and includes field officers as well as experts on operations, site planning and logistics. The agency is preparing a separate airlift and the deployment of an emergency team to Kyrgyzstan.

UNHCR said it was “alarmed” by the rapid escalation of violence since 10 June, which has led to the displacement of an estimated 200,000 people within the country, in addition to those who fled to Uzbekistan.

“We fear that unless peace and order is restored swiftly more people could be displaced as they flee to the countryside or try to cross the border to Uzbekistan,” Mr. Mahecic stated, appealing for a halt to the violence and efforts to ensure the protection of civilians.

Meanwhile, a group of UN human rights experts today voiced their alarm and deep concern about ethnic tensions that have erupted into violence in Kyrgyzstan, including the cities of Osh and Jalalabad.

“Putting a stop to the current violence and preventing its further escalation or spreading to other areas must be the first priority of the provisional Government. The security of those from all ethnic groups, including all minorities in Kyrgyzstan, must be protected,” they stated in a news release.

“The true causes of the tensions should be fully analyzed and addressed to help ensure that this appalling situation cannot happen again,” added the experts – Gay McDougall, Independent Expert on minority issues; Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and Githu Muigai, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

They noted that the present situation remains “extremely fragile and dangerous” and it must be confronted with swift and appropriate responses to calm the situation, restore order and prevent further outbreaks of violence.

“This must be done in full conformity with human rights obligations,” they stressed.