ROME — Delegates from 180 countries opened a United Nations meeting on hunger June 10 by endorsing the controversial concept of the right to food in a declaration that was watered down to meet U.S. objections.
Pope John Paul II gave the concept his blessing, but the United States expressed concern over the implications of recognizing such a right before agreement on its legal implications.
To meet Washington’s reservations, the statement presented to the meeting was reworded to affirm “the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food.”
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state, delivered a message from the ailing pope urging governments and intergovernmental institutions to guarantee the right to food. John Paul called it essential for world peace.
“Such a commitment can be seen as entirely necessary and legitimate, given the fact that poverty and hunger risk compromising even the ordered coexistence of peoples and nations and constitute a real threat to peace and international security,” he said.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization called the meeting to try to convince world leaders to put new political will into keeping the promise they made at the 1996 World Food Summit to reduce the number of undernourished people in the world by half by the year 2015.
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