A new United Nations report says global food prices will ease downward from recent record highs.

But the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization says Thursday that prices are not likely to fall as low as they were before 2007.

Food prices have sparked protests in many nations recently as the cost of rice and other staples soared.

The U.N. report says prices will decline in the short term because of expected good harvests of wheat, rice and other crops.

But many of the factors that drove prices up in the first place - high oil prices, growing demand, speculation, and bad trade policies - will keep prices from falling far.

Nations attending a U.N.-sponsored special session on the world food crisis say the soaring cost of food threatens to undermine efforts to reduce poverty and could spark unrest.

The U.N. Human Rights Council called the session in Geneva Thursday, and is urging governments to enact measures to meet the vital food needs of their population.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, told delegates high food prices and shortages are jeopardizing the well-being and rights of countless people.