Conflict-driven hunger threatens global peace and security, Kuwait tells UN
- Kuwait’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Tareq Al-Banai calls for implementation of existing international commitments and an end to starvation of civilians as a weapon of war.
Kuwait has told the UN Security Council that food insecurity caused by conflicts is no longer solely a humanitarian concern but a direct threat to international peace and security, calling for existing international obligations to be implemented and for the starvation of civilians to be prevented as a method of warfare.
The warning was delivered by Kuwait’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Tareq Al-Banai, during a high-level Security Council open debate titled “Food Under Fire: The Role of the Security Council in Mitigating Global and Local Food Crises.”
Al-Banai said the Security Council had recognized the connection between conflict and hunger through the unanimous adoption of Resolution 2417 in 2018. Kuwait, which was a Security Council member at the time, participated in presenting and advancing the resolution.
He said the priority now is to move from commitments to implementation and turn Security Council resolutions and early-warning mechanisms into effective tools for preventing famine before it occurs.
Gaza cited as stark example
Al-Banai pointed to the Gaza Strip as a stark example of the consequences of restricting access to food. He said the blockade, restrictions on the entry of aid and goods, and extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure and production facilities have contributed to famine in parts of the Strip.
He strongly condemned what he described as the use by the Israeli occupying power of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, saying that forcing civilians into a choice between hunger and surrender violates international law, international humanitarian law and basic human dignity.
Hormuz closure raises food-security concerns
Al-Banai also linked regional conflicts to the wider global economy, warning that their effects can extend beyond national borders to international supply chains and markets. He expressed Kuwait’s strongest condemnation of Iran’s continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, describing it as a direct threat to the security and stability of global supply chains.
The impact, he said, extends beyond energy security to global food security, as disruptions to trade can raise shipping, fuel and fertilizer costs and push up food prices, placing a heavier burden on countries that are more vulnerable and dependent on imports.
Hunger can deepen instability
The Kuwaiti ambassador also highlighted the security consequences of worsening food insecurity. He warned that the erosion of livelihoods, rising poverty and marginalization, and growing competition for resources can make societies more fragile and intensify tensions. Such conditions, he said, can also be exploited by terrorist and extremist groups for recruitment, incitement and violence.
According to Al-Banai, the 2026 Global Report on Food Crises shows that acute hunger has doubled over the past decade, while the number of people experiencing the most catastrophic levels of hunger is now nine times higher than in 2016.
He argued that the persistence of famine despite international legal rules, early-warning systems and Security Council resolutions demonstrates that the central challenge is political will and implementation.
“A society exhausted by hunger and deprived of its livelihoods cannot build lasting stability,” Al-Banai said, adding that a world that accepts civilians dying of hunger cannot claim to be steadily advancing toward sustainable peace.
