UN Officials Warn Against Starvation as Weapon of War
UN human rights officials warn that global hunger is an avoidable tragedy driven by injustice and the deliberate use of starvation in conflict zones.
United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk and Special Rapporteur Sofía Monsalve Suárez warned the Committee on World Food Security in Rome on Monday that global hunger remains an avoidable tragedy. Türk noted that while global food production exceeds 3,000 calories per person per day, injustice and the denial of human rights prevent this abundance from reaching those in need. He also cited the waste of over one billion meals daily by households as a contributing factor.
Türk highlighted that conflict drives acute hunger in 12 of 13 current hotspots and advocated for a human rights economy centered on social protection and fair taxation. He emphasized that the rules of war must be upheld to ensure hunger is never used as a method of warfare.
Special Rapporteur Sofía Monsalve Suárez reported a rapid increase in famine, stating that 1.4 million people across six countries face catastrophic conditions. She identified Gaza, Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as areas where 266 million people face acute hunger. Suárez characterized the deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war as an unprecedented moral challenge and called for a stronger accountability framework to end the impunity surrounding these crimes.
