Political will of the industrial countries

40. Authorities of globally rich countries must influence public opinion to become sensitive to the plight of the poor, whether near or far. It is also their responsibility to strongly support the work being done by international organisations to deal with these sufferings, helping them to adopt immediate and enduring measures to root out hunger worldwide. This is what the Church has been demanding of everyone with such determination for over a hundred years, insisting that, among other things, the rights of the weakest are protected by the authorities themselves(⁵⁹).

In order to sensitise and mobilise the international community, particularly with regard to the ethical dimension of these issues, outspoken references are made in many texts published by such bodies as the Economic and Social Council (particularly the Commission on Human Rights) and UNICEF. Restricting our references to the works published by FAO, which is well-known in this connection, there is striking evidence of the convergence just mentioned between the teaching of the Church and the increasing efforts deployed by the international community in a number of instruments such as: the Peasants' Charter set out in the World Declaration on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (1979)(⁶⁰), the World Food Security Compact (1985)(⁶¹), The World Declaration on Nutrition and the Plan of Action adopted by the World Nutrition Conference (1992)(⁶²).These are included without overlooking the various politically and morallymandatory codes of best practice or international undertakings on pesticides, plant genetic resources, etc. It is important to note that this ethical point of view was recently adopted by the World Bank(⁶³).

Human development will not come about as a result of economic mechanisms operating alone; a belief that all that is necessary is to encourage them. The economy will only become more human and humane if a whole range of reforms are carried out at every level. Designed to provide the best possible service for the genuine common good, these reforms must take an ethical approach based on the infinite value of each man and woman and of all humanity. That is an economy which allows itself to be inspired by "the need to build relationships between peoples on the basis of a constant "exchange of gifts', a real "culture of giving' which should make every country prepared to meet the needs of the less fortunate"(⁶⁴).