Security Council Holds "Food Under Fire" Open Debate, Guterres Calls for Breaking Vicious Cycle of Conflict and Food Insecurity
The UN Security Council held a high-level open debate on August 25, 2026, at UN Headquarters, themed "Food Under Fire," to address food crises.
UNITED NATIONS,POLITICS
Global N Press
8/25/20261 min read
On August 25, 2026, the United Nations Security Council convened a high-level open debate at UN Headquarters in New York under the theme "Food Under Fire: The Security Council's Role in Mitigating Global and Local Food Crises". Secretary-General António Guterres reported that 2025 witnessed the highest number of armed conflicts since World War II, with at least 266 million people worldwide experiencing acute food insecurity and two famines confirmed for the first time this century, in Sudan and Gaza. Guterres stressed the urgent necessity of breaking the vicious cycle between armed conflict and food insecurity. Carl Skau, Acting Executive Director of the World Food Programme, briefed the Council that the conflict-hunger trap is accelerating, and that persistent disruptions to maritime trade could push tens of millions more into food insecurity.
Skau further revealed that nearly 300 million people globally now face acute food insecurity — a threefold increase compared to six years ago. Fu Cong, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, called for an immediate cessation of hostilities to safeguard food production, emphasizing that warfare destroys farmland, displaces populations, and serves as a primary driver of humanitarian crises and hunger. Fu urged the Security Council to prioritize political solutions and facilitate lasting ceasefires through dialogue. He added that food security governance is a global issue that cannot be determined by a few countries or interest groups alone. The open debate was designed to identify concrete measures to prevent conflict-induced hunger from triggering further cross-border instability, displacement, and insecurity.
