Khartoum – Azza – New York: Europe and the Arabs

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed warned that the escalating link between hunger and conflict poses a "strategic and existential threat" to international security, stressing the need to address this crisis as such.

According to the UN Daily News, this came during an open Security Council debate on conflict-related food insecurity held on Monday. Amina Mohammed explained that "war and hunger are often two sides of the same coin," and presented statistics demonstrating the direct link between violence and hunger:

⬅️Armed conflict is the driver of acute food insecurity in 14 of the 16 hunger hotspots worldwide.

⬅️Last ​​year, 295 million people faced acute hunger – an increase of 14 million from the previous year.

⬅️The number of people suffering from catastrophic hunger doubled to 1.9 million.

The Deputy Secretary-General noted that bullets and bombs destroy fields, markets, and roads, while hunger retaliates with a similar blow by fueling despair, displacement, violence, and the destruction of food systems.

Sudan and Gaza

The Deputy Secretary-General highlighted the tragic situations in conflict zones:

➡️Sudan is facing the world’s largest hunger crisis, with violence perpetuating famine in Darfur and Kordofan.

➡️In Gaza, where famine was confirmed in August, the situation remains dire, emphasizing that “food itself has become a weapon” through deliberate starvation tactics.

➡️In other regions, millions remain trapped in the same vicious cycle in Haiti, Yemen, the Sahel, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A stark paradox

Amina Mohammed pointed to a “stark paradox” in global priorities, where total military spending reached $21.9 trillion over the past decade, while eradicating hunger by 2030 would cost only $93 billion annually. She also warned that climate change is accelerating the crisis with "deadly force," as floods and droughts devastate crops and grazing lands. The countries most vulnerable to climate change are often those embroiled in conflict, which is "no coincidence."

A Call for Action on Four Fronts
Amina Mohammed called on the international community to take immediate action on four pillars:

➡️Ensuring the flow of aid, sustaining ceasefires, and upholding international humanitarian law.

➡️Strengthening food systems as a pathway from vulnerability to resilience.

➡️Recognizing climate action as a cornerstone of food security and peace.

➡️Emphasizing that only political solutions can end war, and that achieving peace requires treating food and agriculture as strategic imperatives.

Mohammed concluded by emphasizing that a nexus approach is essential: "We cannot address food security without addressing the root causes of conflict. And we cannot build peace without ensuring that people can feed themselves." Hunger Hotspots Report

Joyce Msuya, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, said the evidence in the latest Hunger Hotspots report, published by the Global Network Against Food Crises, is clear: the world’s most severe food crises—including famine in parts of Gaza and Sudan—are driven primarily by armed conflict and violence. In South Sudan, the risk of famine remains high in some counties affected by local violence.

She explained that the more intense the violence, the worse food insecurity becomes. Attacks that harm civilians and civilian infrastructure leave fields deserted, disrupt food supply chains, drive up prices, and destroy livelihoods.

UN’s Ongoing Efforts to Secure Humanitarian Access

Msuya also stressed that humanitarian action is essential to preventing and addressing hunger in conflicts. When humanitarian access is denied, hunger and malnutrition increase—often with devastating consequences for civilians. She explained that the UN is working tirelessly to secure humanitarian access. She continued: “We negotiate with the parties to the conflict, operate notification systems to inform armed groups of humanitarian aid movements, and coordinate between responders on the ground. But these tools can only work if the parties are committed to facilitating access and relief operations.”

Joyce Msuya expressed her dismay at the record number of attacks that have harmed aid workers over the past two years—and the indirect impact on communities’ access to aid. She called on states to condemn these attacks and push for consistent and credible investigations in every context.

The UN official proposed four areas for action, urging the Security Council and UN member states to take steps:

⬅️First, use your influence to address hunger in conflict zones.

⬅️Second, adopt strong policies and practices to protect civilians.

⬅️Third, facilitate humanitarian work by streamlining bureaucratic procedures and ensuring that humanitarian workers can communicate with all parties.

Fourth, strengthen accountability. Demand and support investigations; adopt legislation to prosecute war crimes; enhance cooperation between states; and, where competent national authorities are unable or unwilling to act, support international jurisdictions.

Integrated Phase Classification
Also speaking at the Security Council session was the FAO's Chief Economist, Máximo Torero, who highlighted the crucial role of accurate and impartial data in addressing hunger in conflict zones. He emphasized that for more than 20 years, the FAO has been leading global efforts to provide evidence-based analysis in the world's most fragile environments.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), first developed by the FAO in Somalia in 2004, is central to this work. Although initially a local tool, the IPC has become the global standard for assessing acute food insecurity and acute malnutrition. The Global IPC Initiative, hosted by the FAO, comprises 21 international organizations that ensure the technical accuracy, impartiality, and consistency of the classifications.

Last year, the IPC confirmed famine three times – twice in Sudan and once in Gaza. Máximo Torero explained that this was the first time a conflict-induced famine had been confirmed more than once in a single year.

Torero emphasized that the early warnings issued by the IPC in both contexts indicated the need for urgent action, stressing that waiting for famine confirmation was a dangerous delay. He concluded by saying that the IPC is not just a technical tool, but a lifeline for millions, and it must be protected to ensure evidence-based decision-making in an era of escalating conflict and dwindling humanitarian resources.