The Right to Hope for every child
Our Founder delivered a passionate speech at the Vatican
On Monday, 3 February, our Founder and CEO, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow spoke at the prestigious World Leaders Summit at the Vatican. Addressing His Holiness Pope Francis and fellow attendees, including presidents and royalty, he spoke about the challenge of eradicating child hunger and said: “we in this room could make it happen”.
The gathering was attended by a select group of world and humanitarian leaders, including former US Vice President Al Gore, the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, and Rania Al-Abdullah, Queen of Jordan.
Magnus, who spoke about the work of Mary’s Meals and spent the day discussing a child’s right to education, healthcare, food, nutrition and play, with fellow attendees, said: “Child hunger is on the rise in too many places across the world – driven by conflict, extreme weather, economic shocks and the fact that many of the wealthiest nations in the world are reducing their aid budgets.”
Last year, UNICEF reported one in four children globally live in severe child food poverty due to inequity, conflict, and climate crises. And Magnus revealed teachers are witnessing empty playgrounds because children are too hungry to come to class.
He said: “Last year I visited Tigray, Ethiopia, where all these factors have combined to cause a terrible hunger crisis which has taken the lives of many children and forced hundreds of thousands to drop out of school. I spoke to a teacher in an empty school who told me that when there are no children left in the playground there can be no hope left either. Maybe Hope should be another Right for every child?”
Stressing that those in attendance at the Vatican summit have the power to affect change, he continued: “I believe that every child has a right to a daily meal in their place of education. And I believe that there is no good reason why we cannot make – and keep - this promise to the world’s poorest children. We have in the human family more than enough resources to do this. We in this room could make it happen.”
After the summit, Magnus said: “I feel huge gratitude for the invitation to take part in this event and to Pope Francis and the organisers for including Mary’s Meals. It’s a privilege to represent the Mary’s Meals family and to be the voice of the children we serve every school day. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to introduce the idea of the ‘Right to Hope’ alongside the other important rights of the child discussed.
“This summit has opened so many new doors for Mary’s Meals; so many new people are expressing huge interest in our work. It’s a very important step for Mary’s Meals.”
The Vatican Summit concluded with an announcement by Pope Francis that he will prepare an Apostolic Exhortation dedicated to children’s rights.
Watch Magnus' full speech at the Vatican below.
