With Critical Food Systems Under Attack, Secretary-General Implores Security Council ‘No Time to Lose’ for Breaking Vicious Cycle Linking Hunger, Armed Conflict

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council on conflict and food security — “Food under Fire:  the Security Council’s role in mitigating global and local food crises”, today in New York:

I thank the Government of Denmark, and Minister Rasmussen, for chairing this urgent discussion on conflict and food security. This is an opportunity for the Council to address a dangerous and evolving reality.

Critical food systems — and the lives and livelihoods they sustain — are under attack.

Getting enough to eat is a basic human need — a need that is clearly reflected in Sustainable Development Goal 2:  ending hunger.  Zero hunger is achievable.  But it requires tackling hunger’s many root causes — including conflict.

In resolution 2417 (2018), this Council highlighted the link between conflict-induced food insecurity and the threat of famine, and armed conflict and violence.  And it provided clear guidance to ensure the proper functioning of food systems and markets in the midst of conflict. 

Today is about strengthening the implementation of that important resolution.  There is no time to lose.  Across the Sahel, farmers are driven from their fields as conflict disrupts farming, trade and livelihoods, and food insecurity worsens across the region.  In Sudan, markets have been hit by drone strikes and missiles.  In Haiti, gang violence has cut off entire communities.

And humanitarian workers have been denied access to assist people in desperate need — from Gaza to Mali, Myanmar and Sudan.  Some have come under direct attack — and even been killed.

It is no coincidence that 2025 saw not only the highest number of armed conflicts since World War II — but also among the highest levels of global acute hunger on record, with at least 266 million people facing acute food insecurity.

2025 also marked the first time this century that two famines were confirmed simultaneously, in Sudan and Gaza:  a shameful milestone.

The UN’s latest Hunger Hotspots report shows that conflict and violence are the primary drivers in 12 out of 13 hunger hotspots of greatest concern.  The link between armed conflict, violence and hunger is undeniable.  We know that rising hunger can fuel displacement, fragility, instability and competition for scarce resources.  And the effects are borderless, with conflicts and violence triggering shockwaves of hunger across borders and regions.

The war in Ukraine is affecting grain and energy exports in the Black Sea, both from Ukraine and the Russian Federation.  The crisis in the Middle East is another example.  The Strait of Hormuz carries around a fifth of global oil supplies, and a third of global fertilizer trade.  Restrictions and closures have driven up commodity prices and made availability plummet. 

And attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea are further threatening supply chains for food and other commodities.  For import-dependent countries, many struggling with high debt, this directly increases the cost of farming and imperils future harvests.

We need a peaceful, just and durable settlement that safeguards international navigational rights and freedoms, including in and around the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and restores stability and confidence.

As I detailed yesterday, we have worked to develop and propose practical mechanisms to address global humanitarian needs triggered by the Strait of Hormuz crisis.  This time-bound confidence-building effort would focus initially on fertilizers and related raw materials — but with the ability to be extended to other products.

International support for this initiative has been encouraging.  What is needed now is the cooperation and political will of the parties.  I urge all concerned to engage seriously and constructively.  But this initiative cannot be seen as a substitute for fully restoring navigational rights and freedoms in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

Resolution 2417 (2018) recognizes the need to “break the vicious cycle between armed conflict and food insecurity”.  Yet the vicious cycle rolls on.  So today, I call on this Council to consider three measures to strengthen — and build on — this landmark resolution.

First, resolution 2417 (2018) must be implemented consistently and in full.  For parties to conflict, this means not depriving civilians of objects indispensable to their survival — including food, crops, livestock, and drinking water supplies — and refraining from attacking, destroying, removing or rendering them useless.

It also means taking constant care to spare civilian objects necessary for food production and distribution — including farms, mills, water systems, food processing and storage sites, and transportation hubs.  And it means providing humanitarian personnel with safe and unimpeded access to civilians in armed conflicts.

Too many parties to armed conflict disregard their obligations under international humanitarian law with impunity.  This is unacceptable.  States must do their part to uphold and ensure respect for international humanitarian law and use their influence to secure compliance.

And throughout, reporting on conflict-induced hunger, new famine risks, and emerging risks to food systems and humanitarian operations must be acted upon.  We cannot wait for famine or catastrophic conditions to be formally confirmed.  I call on this Council to act when the warning lights are flashing.

Second — food systems must be protected in their entirety. Conflicts or violence must not keep farmers from their fields, keep crops trapped in or on the ground, or keep food supplies stuck in storage.  I call on this Council to renew its support for protections for infrastructure essential to food security.

That must include safeguards for farms, water systems, markets, storage facilities, ports and supply routes.  It should also reinforce safeguards for the supply of food exports, agricultural inputs and humanitarian aid — including passage across borders and seas.

And third — humanitarians must be protected.  All parties to conflict have clear obligations under international humanitarian law.  That includes allowing practical arrangements that enable humanitarian operations and protecting humanitarian workers as they carry out their life-saving work.

In resolution 2417 (2018), this Council expressed its willingness to consider information on the unlawful denial of humanitarian access and take appropriate steps, including sanction measures.  I call on this Council to make every effort to ensure accountability, keep vital humanitarian aid flowing, and protect those delivering it.

The best protection against food insecurity is peace. And the safest conditions for peace are a world without hunger.  I urge this Council to use all tools at its disposal to help prevent and end conflicts and to stop emerging risks from becoming wider crises of instability and, in particular, food insecurity.