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8213rd Security Council Meeting: Maintenance of International Peace and Security
The United Nations senior-most humanitarian official and the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) came together today to urge the Security Council to play a greater role in breaking the link between hunger and conflict, stating that in doing so, it would make a significant contribution to famine eradication and sustainable development.
Emphasizing the prospect of wiping out famine “within our lifetime”, Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, speaking via videoconference from Dublin, said almost two thirds of people living in hunger were in conflict-stricken countries. Yemen, South Sudan and north-eastern Nigeria still faced severe levels of hunger, while the food security situation in Ethiopia, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo was extremely worrying.
Council members had influence over parties to conflict, while the organ itself had the means to investigate violations of international humanitarian law, as well as the means to enhance accountability, he noted, adding that peace and political solutions would disrupt the cycle of conflict and hunger. “This Council’s main responsibility is peace and international security,” he said. “In other words, this Council can help prevent famine to ever occur again.”
David Beasley, the World Food Programme’s Executive Director, speaking via videoconference from Biel, Switzerland, elaborated on those points, saying that hunger was on the rise worldwide mostly because “people won’t stop shooting at each other”. With terrorists using food as a weapon of recruitment and war, the United Nations, donors and Member States should use food as a weapon for reconstruction, peace and to bring people together. He called on the Council to help end war, with the world facing the worst humanitarian crisis since the founding of the United Nations. Unity should be a priority. While differences often arose, they should not surface on all issues, he said, pressing the Council to make certain that funds and access were available for providing humanitarian support.
In the ensuing debate, representatives underscored the complex link between conflict and hunger, aggravated by such factors as climate change, and the importance of addressing root causes, including through the promotion of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Several delegates called for better early-warning mechanisms that would enable the Secretary-General to expeditiously bring looming crises to the Council’s attention. Many also emphasized respect for international humanitarian law, and for those hindering the delivery of humanitarian assistance to be held accountable for their actions.
The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, Council President for March, speaking in her national capacity, said that in today’s world of abundance, technology and big data, famine was completely avoidable, and when it happened it was man-made. “It occurs where people harm other people,” she said.
Recalling her recent visits to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen, she cited a persistent failure of warring parties complying with rules, causing civilians in conflict to suffer. Flouting the law of war not only turned norms into hollow phrases, but eroded the rules-based international order. Outlining a framework for action, she called for guarantees for humanitarian access and action against violators of international law before stressing the importance of political solutions to bring an end to the suffering.
Ethiopia’s delegate, highlighting the need for Council unity, said securing humanitarian access was a major challenge that the 15-member organ had tried to tackle in the face of political differences. He added that limited resources had impacted the role of peacekeeping missions, constraining their contribution to preventing conflict-induced food insecurity and hunger.
The representative of Kuwait said there was no moral justification for allowing people to die from hunger. Early warnings from the Secretary-General would help guard against conflict-driven hunger, as well as prompt implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and compliance with international law. Several measures could be taken by the Council, including the inclusion of civilian protection in peacekeeping mandates. Emphasizing that conflict was man-made, he said preventative diplomacy was the best solution going forward.
Similarly, Kazakhstan’s representative said the capacity of the United Nations to prevent conflicts had to be strengthened, including through the implementation of the Secretary-General’s proposals in his report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace. He urged the Secretary-General and the Secretariat to alert the Council on worrying levels of food insecurity and hunger, citing that the early warning and swift humanitarian response in February 2017 avoided famine in Yemen, South Soudan, Somalia and north-east Nigeria.
The representative of the Russian Federation said there was a desire by some States to advance — in the Council and the media — the link between conflict and hunger, which was problematic as it relegated key drivers of food insecurity to the back burner, including global food price volatility, economic stagnation, a lack of investment, unfavourable weather, and weak progress in sustainable consumption and production. He cautioned against populating the Council’s agenda with issues outside its purview.
Today’s meeting followed up on a letter from the Secretary-General to Member States on 21 February 2017 on hunger and conflict, and on a presidential statement on 9 August 2017 through which the Council expressed grave concern about the threat of famine facing Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and north-east Nigeria (see press release SC/12946).
Also speaking today were representatives of Côte d’Ivoire, Peru, Bolivia, Sweden, United Kingdom, Equatorial Guinea, United States, China, Poland and France.
The meeting began at 11:05 a.m. and ended at 1:02 p.m.
