Pope calls for swift action to end Darfur hunger

May 21, 2006 (VATICAN CITY) — Pope Benedict called on Sunday for “concrete and swift” action to stop world hunger and in particular save hundreds and thousands of people from starvation in Sudan’s conflict-ravaged Darfur region.

“I am thinking particularly of the urgent and dramatic situation in Darfur, in Sudan, where great difficulties continue in satisfying the most basic food needs of the population,” he said in his weekly address to pilgrims in St Peter’s Square.

Media organisations had a responsibility to publicise hunger in order to mobilise governments and public opinion, he added.

Benedict’s call joins that of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan who in an opinion piece published on Friday said there was not a second to lose in rescuing the population of Darfur from the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Food contributions from world donors have lagged behind Darfur’s food needs and the UN World Food Programme earlier this month was forced to cut in half food rations to the region where tens of thousands of people have been killed by conflict.

Sudan’s government and Darfur’s main rebel group signed a deal on May 5 but an under-funded and under-equipped African Union force monitoring a truce in Darfur has been unable to stop militia attacks on civilians caught in the crossfire.

(Reuters)