Attachments
In 2018, UN Security Council Resolution 2417 on the protection of civilians during armed conflict, conflict-induced food insecurity and the threat of famine was adopted.
Food insecurity in conflict today is at unprecedented levels. In 2024, more than 294 million people in 53 countries and territories were recorded as experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity. Millions of people across the world face food insecurity in various forms, much of which is caused and exacerbated by conflictrelated factors. Throughout 2025, conflict-induced food insecurity continued to cause immense levels of suffering, including two famines that were declared in Gaza governorate in the occupied Palestinian territory and Darfur and Kordofan in Sudan.
The use of explosive weapons in conflict has contributed to large-scale destruction of infrastructure that supported food systems, thereby undermining food security. Particularly devastating are the impact on agricultural land, water infrastructure and markets. When food systems are disrupted, communities need aid to feed their families. When aid operations are targeted in conflict and mitigation measures are interrupted, food insecurity can ultimately lead to starvation.
Efforts to protect civilian populations and safeguard communities against food insecurity in conflict require a renewed focus on civilian food system infrastructure.
• The humanitarian consequences of explosive weapons use extend far beyond the moment and location of detonation. Over time and across affected areas, cumulative system failures create increasing barriers that hinder communities from producing enough food, transporting it from surplus areas to places in need, and enabling families and traders to access markets.
• Individual conflict events cause reverberating effects that disrupt systems and these consequences are foreseeable because they unfold slowly over time and space.