EU Statement -- UN Security Council: Ministerial Open Debate on Food Security

Madame President, 

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Andorra and San Marino align themselves with this statement.

We thank Denmark for convening this timely debate and thank the Secretary-General, the Acting Executive Director of the World Food Programme, and Dr. Perrine Benoist representing the Coalition Against Conflict & Hunger, for their important contributions.

Eight years after the adoption of Resolution 2417, conflict remains the primary driver of acute food insecurity. 

Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, and the recent escalations in the Middle East, have further exposed the fragility of global food systems. Disruptions to maritime routes, energy markets, fertiliser supplies, trade flows, and humanitarian logistics reverberate across the globe and affect those already facing severe food insecurity and malnutrition, including import-dependent countries in fragile contexts.

At the same time, the confirmation of famine conditions in parts of Gaza and Sudan in 2025 was a stark reminder that acute food insecurity is often the foreseeable consequence of conflict, obstruction, and disregard for international humanitarian law. According to the latest Hunger Hotspot reports from WFP and FAO, conflict-induced food insecurity is worsening across Afghanistan, the DRC, Haiti, Lebanon, Mali, Myanmar, Nigeria, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen.

Madame President,

Resolution 2417 remains the Council’s benchmark for both preventing and addressing conflict and violence driven hunger and must be fully implemented. Today, it also reminds us that the Council must respond not only to local emergencies, but also to wider patterns of conflict that disrupt global food security.

The European Union underlines four points in this regard.

First, international humanitarian law must be fully respected. Civilians and objects indispensable to their survival— including food stocks, agricultural land, livestock, and water infrastructure — must be protected. The use of starvation as a method of warfare is prohibited under international humanitarian law, can constitute a war crime and must be unequivocally condemned. The EU is supporting efforts to strengthen monitoring and reporting, including through a project with the NGO Action Against Hunger to track violations relevant to Resolution 2417, and through the Global Network Against Food Crises.

Second, States and parties to conflict must allow and facilitate rapid, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access, in accordance with IHL. Humanitarian actors must be able to operate without interference, and to provide principled and needs-based humanitarian assistance.

Third, early warning must lead to early action. Independent, evidence-based analysis, including through the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), is indispensable to identifying food insecurity and famine risks and informing timely responses. These findings must be respected and acted upon, including through anticipatory action. The data underpinning these analyses is equally critical and must be preserved and protected.  Where access is denied, new technologies, including satellite imagery and remote sensing, can help document damage to crops, markets and villages and support accountability.

Fourth, responses must be better integrated across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, which requires reinforced coordination between relevant UN agencies, and grounded in local capacities. In a Team Europe approach, the EU and its Member States are supporting life-saving assistance, resilience, social protection, and more sustainable food systems. We underline the importance of localisation and of predictable support to local actors. Conflict-related food insecurity and malnutrition also have differentiated and gendered impacts, and protecting local production, markets and livelihoods is essential to resilience and recovery. The EU reaffirms its support for the right to adequate food as a human right.

The EU and its Member States remain the world's largest collective humanitarian donor with food assistance at the heart of the response. Over the last four years, around one third of the EU humanitarian budget has been dedicated to emergency food assistance and nutrition – equivalent to roughly EUR 800 million annually. While global funding for food crises is under growing pressure, we will remain stable and reliable partners in responding to food insecurity and malnutrition globally. As set out in the EU Joint Communication on Humanitarian Aid, the EU plans to further step up the Team Europe approach in this area.

Madame President,

With these points in mind, allow us to highlight three calls to action:

First, we must strengthen humanitarian diplomacy to secure access, protect food supply routes, prevent further deterioration and instrumentalization of food in warfare, and attacks on humanitarian personnel, while also addressing the root causes of food crises. This requires timely action, stronger investment in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and resilience, and efforts to counter disinformation, reject undue export restrictions, and invest in robust and resilient agrifood systems. The Council should make active use of the tools contained in Resolution 2417, including early warning and the Secretary-General’s good offices, to address both conflict-driven hunger in specific crises and the wider food security impacts of regional and global conflicts.

Second, violations of international humanitarian law should be systematically identified and forcefully condemned, and those responsible must be held accountable. Accountability must be pursued through national jurisdictions and, where applicable, through international justice mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court. Humanitarian actors must also receive the political support, resources and protection they need to operate. Resolution 2417 also provides tools to consider sanctions measures against those obstructing humanitarian assistance.

Third, we need stronger and more coherent political and financial support for the multilateral system and frontline responders. This includes support to the UN, local and national actors, independent mechanisms such as the IPC, and initiatives that improve coordination, early warning and anticipatory action in response to food insecurity and malnutrition risks. Also in regards to the impact of disruptions to trade through the Strait of Hormuz, particularly on energy, fertiliser and other critical agricultural inputs, and the consequences for food security and humanitarian needs in vulnerable countries. Ongoing UN80 reform efforts should further help make the system more effective and fit for purpose in responding to complex food crises, including through more efficient procurement. 

From the very start of its war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia has sought to weaponize food and undermine global food security by blocking the Black Sea. Recently it has intensified attacks against ports and commercial shipping, together with systematic strikes against inland logistics, warehouses and grain terminals. In response, since May 2022, the EU Solidarity Lanes have facilitated Ukraine’s exports, including of grain and agricultural produce. Solidarity Lanes remain critical. The EU, acting jointly with its Member States as well as other partners, is committed in supporting Ukraine to export grains as quickly as possible to alleviate pressures felt by the most vulnerable countries. To be clear and pre-empt specious allegations: EU sanctions do not target trade, notably third-country imports and exports in agricultural and food products and the EU actively works to preserve the global flow of agricultural and food products.

Madame President, in conclusion, 

Conflict-driven hunger is preventable. 

Instrumentalization of food is today a reality - an urgency and our common responsibility to be addressed. A change of paradigm is needed for us, as political leaders: discussing security without food is covering only half of the battlefield. 

The Security Council must act earlier, speak more clearly, and respond more decisively when conflicts put food security at risk — whether locally, regionally, or globally. Protecting civilians from hunger is not only a humanitarian imperative; it is essential to the maintenance of international peace and security.

The EU remains committed to working with the UN and all partners to uphold international law, support those most in need, and advance a world in which food is never used as a method of warfare.

Thank you.