United Nations on World Food Day: 673 million people go to bed hungry every night

Salutes the United Nations World Food Day Annually on October 16, it emphasizes the need for global action to combat the scourge of hunger through improved agricultural and nutrition methods.

This year’s celebration coincides with the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In a message on the occasion, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said, “Countries came together 80 years ago, in a world torn by war, to defeat hunger. In the decades that followed, the world made significant progress in this direction.”

However, Guterres cautions that recent crises show that we cannot be complacent if we want to maintain these gains. He stressed that we have the tools, knowledge, and resources to eradicate hunger and provide good, healthy food for everyone, noting that what we need is unity.

“It is shameful to use hunger as a weapon.”

The Secretary-General pointed to new challenges that he said have emerged over the decades – from rising obesity rates to climate shocks that threaten food security.

He added that it is shameful that hunger is being used as a weapon, noting that we are facing a horrific reality of people in conflict situations starving as famine spreads.

Hunger knows no bounds

The theme of this year’s World Food Day is: “Hand in hand for better food and a better future.”

During an event held on this occasion in Rome, the headquarters of the FAO, he said Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): “Hunger knows no borders, and the challenge of food security requires unity among nations. World leaders and people everywhere must unite in the belief that the right to food is a fundamental human right, and that peace is a prerequisite for food security.”

In turn, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV drew attention to the vast numbers who lack access to drinking water, food, basic medical care, adequate housing, basic education, or decent work.

His Holiness the Pope added:How can we forget those condemned to death and hardship in Ukraine, Gaza, Haiti, Afghanistan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Yemen, and South Sudan, to name just a few of the places where poverty has become the daily bread for so many of our brothers and sisters? The international community cannot turn its back. We must make their suffering our suffering.”

Helping Gaza’s farmers recover

During an event held in Rome on Thursday, a number of speakers linked the conflict to the fact that many people are suffering from hunger at the present time.

Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said that the Gaza Strip had a “vital” agricultural production system before the war, as it included “greenhouses, orchards and a livestock sector,” and these are the things that the UN agency has already begun to develop plans to rebuild.

A month of action for food security

Throughout the month of October, a variety of events and activities are taking place at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome during World Food Week, providing opportunities to learn, share and engage in the global movement for food security and sustainability.

World Food Day 2025 calls for global cooperation to build a peaceful, sustainable, prosperous and food secure future. By working together, across governments, organizations, sectors and communities, FAO has shown that we can transform agricultural and food systems to ensure that everyone has a healthy diet and lives in harmony with the planet.