Conflict and Food Insecurity: High-level Open Debate
Tomorrow (25 August), the Security Council will convene for a high-level open debate on conflict-related food insecurity under the agenda item “Maintenance of international peace and security”. The meeting, titled “Food under fire: the Security Council’s role in mitigating global and local food crises”, is a signature event of Denmark’s August Council presidency and will be chaired by Denmark’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lars Løkke Rasmussen. The expected briefers are UN Secretary-General António Guterres; Carl Skau, the Acting Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP); and Perrine Benoist, Co-CEO of Action Against Hunger, representing the Coalition Against Conflict and Hunger.
The Security Council has addressed conflict-related food insecurity in several thematic meetings in recent years. It has also convened on numerous occasions to discuss conflict-related food insecurity in relation to country-specific situations, often at the request of the co-focal points on conflict and hunger, a role undertaken by Bahrain and Denmark this year. (For more information, see the brief on conflict and food insecurity in our August 2026 Monthly Forecast.)
Denmark has circulated a concept note ahead of the open debate, which says that the meeting intends to help identify practical steps for addressing conflict-driven hunger, including ways to prevent it from contributing to cross-border instability, displacement, and insecurity. The concept note frames this objective within a global context involving record levels of conflict-driven food insecurity and hunger, in which certain conflicts—such as the wars in Ukraine and Iran—are also having a negative impact on the resilience of global food and agriculture supply chains. It further argues that the international community should make more effective use of Council resolution 2417 of 24 May 2018, which addressed the link between armed conflict and food insecurity, and other tools to respond quickly to such threats, including where the effects extend beyond the territory directly affected by hostilities.
The concept note poses four questions to help guide the discussion:
- How can the Security Council leverage the early warning mechanisms of resolution 2417 when regional conflicts threaten global food systems?
- How can the Council mitigate the humanitarian consequences for the most food insecure and import-dependent countries?
- What actions are needed from member states, the UN system, international financial institutions, regional organisations, and humanitarian actors to build more resilient food systems?
- How can the Council better support the Secretary-General’s good offices and technical expertise to protect global food systems at times of crisis?
Tomorrow, the briefers are likely to voice concern about rising food insecurity globally, noting that in 2025 conflict was the primary driver of acute food insecurity for 147 million people in 19 countries and territories, and adding that for the first time in 20 years, two famines were confirmed in the same year, namely in Gaza and Sudan. Guterres is likely to note an alarming pattern of deliberate strikes on civilian infrastructure during hostilities, including siege tactics, destruction of agricultural and market infrastructure, and restrictions on and attacks against humanitarian operations and aid distribution.
The briefers may also stress that the adverse impact of conflict on food security is not geographically contained to conflict zones, as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have demonstrated. Disruptions to and attacks on maritime traffic and supply chains have led to fertilizer shortages and high fuel prices, which could cause higher food prices and drive as many as 45 million additional people into hunger, according to the WFP. Skau is likely to reiterate this point and may note that vessels forced to avoid the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea are adding days of shipping time and incurring significant expenses. He may also warn that rising fertilizer costs could reduce agricultural productivity in upcoming seasons and have long-term effects on food availability.
Guterres may refer to the task force that he established on 27 March, which is led by Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Jorge Moreira da Silva. The task force is focused on finding ways to alleviate the humanitarian crisis caused by the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, including through a mechanism aiming to facilitate fertilizer trade and the movement of related raw materials. Guterres might note that such a mechanism has been developed and is ready to become operational, but that it requires the agreement of the parties involved, while calling on Council members and other states to support it. On 21 August, the co-focal points on conflict and hunger organised an informal briefing by UNOPS for the Council’s Deputy Permanent Representatives on the status of the mechanism.
The briefers are likely to also refer to other factors that are compounding the hunger crisis. They may note that climate-driven events, such as the El Niño weather pattern, threaten to exacerbate food insecurity in 45 countries, and that countries experiencing conflict, instability, and poverty are likely to be hardest hit. They may additionally raise concerns at the steep decline in humanitarian financing to food sectors and call on member states to help close critical funding gaps.
Council members are likely to echo many of the concerns raised by the briefers. Members may refer to dire situations where hunger is at risk of deepening, such as those listed in the 17 June Hunger Hotspots report. The report is jointly produced by the WFP and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and covers the outlook period from June to November. Several members are likely to refer to the situations in Gaza and Sudan, where hunger and malnutrition persist, as being of particular concern. Members may also mention other dire situations, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—where hunger is also affecting areas afflicted by Ebola—South Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen.
Several members are also likely to refer to disruptions to global food and agriculture supply routes due to hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz and the Black Sea. Council members may raise concerns over the reciprocal escalation by Russia and Ukraine targeting cargo vessels and ports, which have reportedly contributed to rising global wheat prices. Similarly, members are also likely to express concern at the continued disruption to freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and call for thr full and secure resumption of maritime traffic through the vital waterway. While some members are likely to express support for the Secretary-General’s Hormuz mechanism, others may stress that a political solution ending the conflict and restoring passage through the Strait must be the priority. Speakers may underline that freedom of navigation is indispensable to safeguard global food and agricultural supply chains and call on conflict parties to refrain from targeting commercial vessels and ports.
Furthermore, Council members are likely to condemn attacks on humanitarian personnel and assets. Some may refer to incidents in Sudan and Ukraine this year where WFP assets were targeted, resulting in aid workers’ deaths and injuries and the destruction of vital food aid. Several speakers are expected to stress the need for parties to uphold international humanitarian law, allow unimpeded access for humanitarian aid, and protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, while condemning the use of starvation as a weapon of war.
Many Council members are expected to reaffirm their commitment to resolution 2417 and stress that it must be fully implemented and enforced. Some may suggest the use of sanctions as an enforcement mechanism against parties that violate the resolution. Some speakers are likely to also highlight the resolution’s early warning mechanisms—such as the mandate it confers on the Secretary-General to “report swiftly” to the Council in cases of imminent conflict-induced famine—while calling for them to be linked to early action, to prevent further deterioration. Some members might ask what can be done to improve the timeliness of these mechanisms—such as ensuring the predictability of reporting, including at an early stage ahead of potential famine declarations—and how to support the Secretary-General’s good offices on this matter. Members may also consider ways to utilise resolution 2417 to help the Council respond more effectively to the wider food security consequences of international conflicts. Some speakers might also call for stronger global mobilisation to address funding gaps and support community and nationally led initiatives aimed at making local agrifood systems more resilient.
