Overview

• Speaking at FAO’s 80th anniversary in Rome on World Food Day, the pope urged leaders not to look the other way and to reorder priorities around human dignity.
• He named Ukraine, Gaza, Haiti, Afghanistan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Yemen and South Sudan as places where hunger and conflict are deepening suffering.
• He condemned the use of starvation as a weapon, recalling that international law defines it as a war crime.
• UN figures he cited show roughly 673 million people are undernourished, while WFP reports 319 million facing acute food insecurity, including 44 million at emergency levels, with funding shortfalls forcing cutbacks.
• FAO’s Qu Dongyu and the Holy See called for structural solutions that empower food producers, especially women, and for resources not to be diverted to weapons.