‘Best Protection against Food Insecurity Is Peace,’ Secretary-General Tells Security Council, Urging Action as Conflict Fuels Global Hunger
Critical food systems — and the lives and livelihoods they sustain — are under attack around the world, Secretary-General António Guterres warned the Security Council today, urging the UN’s flagship crisis management organ to break the vicious cycle of conflict and hunger by acting “when the warning lights are flashing” — from Gaza and Haiti to Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine and beyond.
Today’s high-level open debate, a signature event of Denmark’s Council presidency, centred on the link between armed conflict and conflict-induced food insecurity first established by the Council in its landmark resolution 2417 (2018), which strongly condemns the use of starvation against civilians as a method of warfare and the unlawful denial of humanitarian access, and allows the Council to apply sanctions against individuals or entities that obstruct its delivery.
In opening remarks, the Secretary-General said a staggering 266 million people faced acute food insecurity in 2025 — a year which also saw the most armed conflicts since the Second World War, and among the highest levels of global acute hunger on record. For the first time this century, two famines were also confirmed simultaneously, in Sudan and Gaza, a “shameful” milestone.
“The link between armed conflict, violence and hunger is undeniable,” he stressed.
Across the Sahel, farmers are driven from their fields as conflict disrupts farming, trade and livelihoods. He pointed to Sudan, where markets have been hit by drone strikes and missiles. In Haiti, gang violence has cut off entire communities, while the war in Ukraine is affecting grain and energy exports. Closures of the Strait of Hormuz — which carries a fifth of global oil supplies and a third of global fertilizer trade — have driven up commodity prices, and attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea are threatening supply chains.
“For import-dependent countries, many struggling with high debt, this directly increases the cost of farming and imperils future harvests,” he warned.
For its part, the UN has proposed practical mechanisms to address global humanitarian needs triggered by the Strait of Hormuz crisis — a time-bound effort that would focus first on fertilizers and raw materials and could then be extended to other products. “What is needed now is the cooperation and political will of the parties.”
He pressed the Council to act immediately when new famine risks or risks to food systems and humanitarian operations begin to emerge. The Council should also renew support for safeguards for farms, water systems, markets, storage facilities, ports and supply routes, and “make every effort” to ensure accountability. “The best protection against food insecurity is peace,” he said.
‘Waiting for Famine to Be Declared Is Total Failure of Duty’
Carl Skau, Acting Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), agreed, addressing the Council with dust “still on his shoes” from a visit to Burhakaba, Somalia, where he met with a family that had fled their multigenerational farm when armed groups rolled in and demanded taxes. “They had lost everything, including one child,” he said.
With insurgencies erupting across the country and two consecutive droughts compounding the pressures, Somalis face a “perfect storm” as global engagement is at its lowest. “When families can’t put food on the table, they are left with three choices — starve, move or rebel,” he said.
To illustrate, he said an oil tanker anchored in the Strait of Hormuz can mean one less meal a day for a child in Sudan, as “all food systems rely on fuel”. Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, meanwhile, hit food importing countries like Yemen particularly hard, while escalating attacks in the Black Sea expose highly import-dependent countries like Somalia, which buys 90 per cent of its cereals.
He urged the Council to enact “circuit breakers” — measures to prevent conflict in one region from creating hunger in another — as well as stronger protections for civilians, food systems and humanitarian personnel. Above all, action is needed to ensure agricultural seasons are not lost. “Waiting for famine to be declared is a total failure of duty,” he said.
Narrowing the lens, Perrine Benoist, Co-CEO of Action against Hunger and Member of the Global Coalition against Conflict and Hunger, said the timeline for a child experiencing malnutrition is “brutally short”. Within two weeks of losing access to food, signs of acute malnutrition begin to appear. After three weeks, children become susceptible to common illnesses that can kill them. They experience severe wasting, struggle to move and their organs begin to shut down.
She advised the Council to use resolution 2417 (2018) as an early-warning and prevention tool grounded in affected communities. To do so, it must protect civil society voices, particularly those of affected communities. She called for “urgent and decisive” diplomatic action to uphold international law and investment in local food systems, particularly production and resilient supply chains.
Denying Civilians Food Is a War Crime
In the ensuing debate, dozens of countries pointed out gaps and called for change, underscoring the importance of upholding resolution 2417 (2018). Minister for Foreign Affairs Lars Løkke Rasmussen of Denmark, Council President for August, speaking in his national capacity, set a clear tone: “The blocking, intentional creation and use of hunger and starvation of civilians as a method of warfare constitute a brutal and illegal tactic.” Deliberately denying civilians food is a war crime, Liberia’s representative affirmed. “The Council must stop treating it as a footnote.”
On that point, Dace Melbārde, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Latvia, condemned Moscow’s targeting of Ukrainian ports and grain harvests, humanitarian infrastructure and civilian merchant shipping. “These are not only acts of aggression against Ukraine,” she said, “but crimes against the world’s most vulnerable, using food as a weapon.”
In turn, the Russian Federation’s representative blamed disruption of food and energy markets on “anti-Russian sanctions”, accusing Ukraine of drone attacks on commercial ships carrying Russian agricultural supplies. “The guilty dog barks the loudest,” Ukraine’s representative countered in response, accusing Moscow of blockading Ukrainian ports in February 2022 as part of its war of aggression. He pointed to 1,000 port facilities destroyed and 230 civilian vessels attacked by Moscow, urging Member States to consider the “true price of the grain of wheat harvested by Ukrainian farmers under Russian fire”.
Focused on solutions, France’s representative highlighted his country’s partnership with WFP to strengthen local food sovereignty in Ukraine. Panama’s delegate noted his country hosts the Humanitarian Response Depot, administered by WFP, and developed the Humanitarian Assistance Observatory to strengthen responses to crises, including food security.
Freedom of Navigation, Maritime Trade Routes Must Be Protected
The United States delegate expressed outrage at Iran for disrupting freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Fertilizers prevented from passing through the strait are needed for food production in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and South-East Asia. Countering that narrative, Iran’s representative said the root cause of disruptions to maritime trade and navigation through the Strait of Hormuz is the “United States-Israeli regime war of aggression” against his country. Prior to this aggression, commercial navigation through the Strait proceeded unimpeded, he recalled.
Bahrain’s delegate pushed the Council to take firm measures compelling Iran to respect freedom of navigation. The freedom of navigation and right of passage through international straits must be respected, Greece’s representative added.
Several speakers from import-dependent countries focused on predictable access to food, fertilizer, energy and maritime trade routes to prevent disruptions from causing shortages and hunger. Egypt’s representative advocated strengthening the capacities of developing countries. “We need to move from reaction to prevention and action,” he said. Pakistan’s delegate, bolstering that point, said the impact of disrupted Black Sea and Hormuz trade routes is felt “most squarely” by developing countries, a point echoed by Colombia’s speaker. India’s representative recommended strengthening domestic agricultural production, diversifying supply chains, improving storage and logistics infrastructure and promoting climate-resilient agriculture.
Hunger Is Not Inevitable, Early Action Key to Preventing Famine
Somalia’s representative, meanwhile, acknowledged that aid itself can perpetuate dependence, as it is often bought from donor-country suppliers. China’s representative called for open and transparent market policies and cautioned against politicizing food. “Hunger is not inevitable”, the United Kingdom’s delegate agreed, but often results from choices that deny civilians food.
Sudan’s delegate said that while famine may result from drought or climate change, “starvation is deliberate”. She acknowledged that food security has deteriorated in Darfur and Kordofan — all of them under militia control. Despite the challenges, Sudan is among the countries with the largest agricultural production capacities in Africa and the Arab world.
Elyse Nicole Mosquini, Permanent Observer for the International Committee of the Red Cross, called on States to “act early”, stressing that early warning must lead to early political, diplomatic and operational engagement. “People affected by conflict should not have to wait until their coping mechanisms are exhausted and famine is imminent,” she argued.
The representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo agreed. “Food security must therefore not be viewed only as a response to hunger,” he said, “but as an investment in peace.”