On October 16, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York, gave a statement before the Second Committee of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Agenda Item 26, dedicated to “Agricultural Development, Food Security and Nutrition.”
In his statement, Archbishop Caccia spoke within the context of the beginning of the Decade of Action for sustainable development and the half-way mark on the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition. He said that ending hunger, achieving food insecurity, improving nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture must remain high priorities for the international community. Poverty and hunger, he said, must be tackled together, combining economic inclusion, social protection and support for sustainable livelihoods. The scandal of people dying of hunger while so much food is going to waste must be addressed, he said, through equitable distribution. The question of the quality of food, he said, is also important, so that people with access to food are genuinely nourished with a healthy diet. He described how the pandemic has made more dramatic the situation of malnutrition and food insecurity in multiple ways and reaffirmed the Holy See’s commitment to work toward ensuring that everyone has access to one’s “daily bread.”
Following is the full intervention: