Rome, Oct 16 (AP) In a poignant address at the World Food Day global ceremony, Pope Leo XIV implored world leaders to act with urgency in tackling the critical issues of hunger, wars, and widespread poverty. The ceremony, held to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome, saw the American pontiff urging the global community to confront global food emergencies rather than avert their gaze.
Pope Leo drew attention to ongoing conflicts in regions such as Ukraine, Gaza, Haiti, Afghanistan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Yemen, and South Sudan. He highlighted UN statistics that approximately 673 million people worldwide are undernourished. “We can no longer delude ourselves by thinking that the consequences of our failures impact only those who are hidden out of sight,” he stated. “The hungry faces of so many who still suffer challenge us and invite us to reexamine our lifestyles, our priorities, and our overall way of living in today's world.” He poignantly added, “We must make their suffering our own,” concluding in English after delivering most of his remarks in Spanish.
Additionally, Pope Leo condemned the practice of using hunger as a weapon of war, though he abstained from mentioning any specific conflicts or regions. “In a time when science has lengthened life expectancy, allowing millions of human beings to live, and die, struck by hunger is a collective failure, an ethical derailment, an historic offence,” he asserted.
This appeal from Pope Leo occurs amid deep funding cuts facing UN food aid agencies, driven by significant reductions from predominant donor countries. These cuts threaten the effectiveness of crucial operations in key locations and could drive millions into dire hunger situations. The World Food Programme, typically the UN's most-funded agency, recently disclosed that its financial situation has “never been more challenged,” largely attributing this to reduced contributions from the US under the Trump administration as well as other major Western countries.
The programme warned that 13.7 million recipients risk falling into emergency hunger levels due to these funding cuts. Nations likely to experience "major disruptions" include Afghanistan, Congo, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan. (AP) GRS GRS
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