WCC News: Faith communities share innovative solutions in World Hunger Day webinar

The World Council of Churches (WCC) joined global faith leaders on 3 June for "Nourishing Hope: Faith-Based Solutions to Hunger and Environmental Crises," a comprehensive webinar that demonstrated how religious communities are uniquely positioned to address the interconnected challenges of hunger, debt, and climate change. The event, co-hosted with Caritas Internationalis and World Vision International, brought together practitioners and advocates from across continents to share innovative faith-led solutions and build momentum for coordinated action against what speakers called a "moral crisis of the world."   05 June 2025 "If sitting in the 21st century, half a quarter later, people, men, women and children, if they are dying and if they're starving, there's something seriously wrong, that's the bottom line," declared Dr Arif Husain, chief economist and director of the analysis, planning, and performance division at the UN World Food Programme. "We are in a moral crisis. That's it, and we need to do something. We need to treat hunger as an injustice, which must end, and it must end now." Dr Ana Maria Suarez Franco, secretary general of FIAN International, highlighted the human rights dimensions of the crisis, noting that "these human rights, connected to land, connected to food and connected to water, are constantly abused and violated through displacement, through the land grabbing caused by urbanization and extractive industries." The webinar showcased faith-led initiatives spanning from Rwanda's collaborative church networks to Indonesia's community transformation projects. Raphael Mushumba, programme manager at World Vision Rwanda, and Father Augustine Nzabonimana, director of Caritas Rwanda, demonstrated how their partnership has reduced malnutrition through the PD/Hearth approach, engaging entire communities in addressing the 33 percent stunting rate affecting Rwandan children. "I can advise that if you engage the community, you can resolve the problems," emphasized Nzabonimana, highlighting how local churches serve as crucial mobilization points for nutrition interventions. Athena Peralta, director of the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development, presented examples of church-led environmental restoration, including Ethiopian Orthodox monasteries protecting 400,000 hectares of forest that serve as food sources and carbon sinks for surrounding communities. She emphasized how "churches bring the moral voice that can push for policy changes in agricultural policy, in climate policy, but also in debt frameworks." Dinesh Suna, WCC programme executive for Land, Water, and Food, co-moderated the session while highlighting the organization's Living Planet Monitor publication, which documents faith-based solutions addressing interconnected crises of hunger, climate change, and debt. Massimo Palottino, coordinator of the advocacy team at Caritas Italiana, stressed the systemic nature of the crisis: "Hunger and debt are not something that happen in a specific moment of time, but they are both a kind of systemic issues. There is something broken in our system that needs to be adjusted." The webinar concluded with calls for faith communities to engage in upcoming advocacy moments including the G7 Summit, World Food Day, and COP 30, while supporting local nutrition dialogues and debt cancellation campaigns. Nutrition Dialogues homepage Faith Community Nutrition Dialogue Synthesis - Report Turn Debt into Hope campaign   Call to Action for Churches on Hunger & Nutrition WCC-led consultation unites global voices on land, water, and food security (News Release, 05 June 2024) Global land grab highlights growing inequality and need for reform    Webinar: Nourishing Hope - Faith-based solutions to end hunger and environmental crisis See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland