Doha: UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed warned that the hunger-conflict nexus is a strategic and existential threat, and the Security Council must treat it as such. In her remarks during the Security Council's open debate on conflict-related food insecurity, held on Monday, the UN Deputy Secretary-General said "War and hunger are often two faces of the same crisis."

According to Qatar News Agency, Mohammed highlighted that armed conflict drives acute food insecurity in 14 of 16 hunger hotspots worldwide. She noted that last year, 295 million people faced acute hunger, a troubling increase of 14 million from the previous year. The number of people experiencing catastrophic hunger has more than doubled to 1.9 million.

She explained how conflict destroys essential infrastructure: "Bullets and bombs obliterate the fields where food grows, the markets where people trade, the roads that connect farmers to families. And hunger strikes back with equal force." Mohammed emphasized the dire situations in regions such as Sudan and Gaza. In Sudan, violence continues to perpetuate famine across areas like Darfur and Kordofan. In Gaza, famine confirmed in August remains severe, with food being used as a weapon through deliberate starvation tactics.

Despite the overwhelming military expenditures globally-estimated at $21.9 trillion over the past decade-Mohammed pointed out that ending hunger by 2030 would require significantly less funding, specifically $93 billion per year.