<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Queen Letizia and Pope Leo XIV denounced the use of hunger as a “weapon of war in some parts of the world</strong><strong>” </strong><strong>at the FAO headquarters in Rome on the occasion of World Food Day.</strong></h4> “We have lived through difficult times. We are constantly witnessing the review of principles that we believed to be unchangeable since the founding of this United Nations system, principles such as multilateralism, development cooperation, the link between financing and social justice, and the consideration of food as an inalienable human right,” said Queen Letizia, Special Ambassador for Nutrition for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), during her speech at the official “World Food Day” ceremony, organized by the FAO on the occasion of its 80th anniversary. In her speech, the Queen listed “some reasons for despair, which is also what the FAO and other United Nations agencies point out.” “Hunger is a weapon of war in some parts of the world and it is still an open wound,” she denounced first. The Queen also recalled “the corporate concentration of some food systems,” food waste (“one-third of global food production ends up in the trash”), and “droughts, floods, desertification, and extreme climate change events that most affect those with the least, the most vulnerable, and who, it turns out, are always the ones who suffer the most.” “Who are the backbone of family farming, of childcare, of household food management?” she asked. “Women are the ones who continue to face inequality when it comes to accessing resources, credit, education, and technology,” she warned. According to Queen Letizia, “Spain is deeply committed to the FAO,” promoting “more sustainable food systems and the right to healthy food (…), helping in conflict contexts, and providing this organization with technical knowledge and specialists whenever needed.” “I will conclude by recalling what the King of Spain said at the last United Nations General Assembly: the dignity of the human being is non-negotiable, and only if we place the rights of individuals at the center of food policies will we respect that dignity,” she concluded. For his part, Pope Leo XIV urged the international community to “mobilize all available energy so that no one in the world lacks the necessary food.” He recalled that the fight against hunger is “a shared responsibility” that involves governments, institutions, businesses, and citizens. He denounced that, despite technological and scientific advances, 673 million people still go to bed without eating every night and 2.3 billion lack access to adequate food. He also denounced the use of hunger as a tool of conflict, a practice he described as a “war crime.” He recalled, in this regard, that international humanitarian law prohibits attacking goods essential to the survival of the population. “With pain, we witness the continued use of this cruel strategy, which condemns men, women, and children to hunger, denying them the most basic right: the right to life. However, the silence of those dying of hunger cries out in everyone's conscience, even though it is often ignored, silenced, or distorted,” he said.
