An appeal to "join forces to make the right to food possible, failure to do which is an apparent violation of human dignity and of the rights that stem from it". It was made to the international community today by the Pope in a letter to the General Manager of Fao, Jacques Diouf. "One of the worst challenges of our time", for Benedict XVI; consists in "relieving from starvation millions of human beings, whose lives are endangered by the lack of their daily bread". In the run-up to the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Pope exhorts to rediscover the "duty" to "feed the hungry", which involves "giving priority to the ethical dimension" over the technical and economic dimensions, through "specific methods and actions that will enable the resources to be exploited in a way that respects the heritage of Creation". Hence the importance of "a sympathetic conscience that considers food a universal right of all human beings, without distinctions or discriminations". In particular, the Pope mentions the state of children, "the first victims of this tragedy", which affects their "physical and psychical development" and often forces them to "hard labour or joining armed groups in return for some food".
