High-Level Side Event on Breaking the Cycle Between Conflict and Hunger at the UN General Assembly
During the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, Shumei International participated in a special high-level side event, Breaking the Cycle Between Conflict and Hunger, held on 25 September 2018 at the UN Headquarters in New York. The event was organized by WFP, FAO, IFAD and the Netherlands to discuss how multiple stakeholders can work together to prevent and eradicate conflict-induced hunger.
The Global Report on Food Crises 2018 found that global hunger was on the rise from 80 million in 2015 to 124 million people in 2017 who are facing acute food insecurity or worse. According to the report, conflict is the main driver for food insecurity in 60 percent of the cases, affecting 74 million, while climate shocks are the main driver of food insecurity affecting more than 39 million people. On 24 May 2018, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2417, which has created momentum for the international development, humanitarian and conflict resolution community to collaborate to address conflict-induced hunger.
The event panelists consisted of leaders and experts from the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Among them was FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, who said, “Boosting the resilience of the most vulnerable people, activating early responses to early warnings and coordinating interventions are the three pillars of an integrated approach to peace and food security.”
WFP Executive Director David Beasley also acknowledged that without food security, you cannot have any other kind of security. For every increase in hunger, there is an increase in migration. He also noted the tremendous increase in costs to feed families outside of their home country and it is better investment to support programs like Food for Assets, because ultimately people do not want to leave their homes.
Speakers emphasized that hunger was increasing, and it was driven by conflict. At the same time, there was special focus on small-holder farmers and the need to look at the whole food system and poverty to find new solutions that extend beyond hunger to address poverty and income-generation.
Overall the panel illustrated the need for a comprehensive approach to breaking the cycle of conflict and hunger and the importance of pooling resources and working together in a new framework to address hunger from the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
“Hunger is a social justice issue. Hunger is a moral issue.” — Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela
