UN Special Rapporteur Warns of Rising Use of Hunger as a Weapon of War

GENEVA — The international community is facing an unprecedented moral challenge driven by a dramatic increase in the use of hunger as a weapon of war, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Sofía Monsalve Suárez, said during the presentation of her first thematic report to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on World Food Day.

Monsalve Suárez stated that global responses to this issue have been characterized by an alarming lack of accountability and widespread impunity. She noted that while decades of decline had previously been achieved, famine figures are now climbing, and the proportion of people experiencing famine or near-famine conditions is rapidly increasing, despite potential overall reductions in hunger numbers in 2025.

According to the report, the resurgence of famine and the weaponization of hunger stem from multiple intersecting factors. These include ongoing conflicts, the effects of El Niño, humanitarian aid reductions, economic shocks related to geopolitical instability, and global war economies. Monsalve Suárez argued that these dynamics coincide with a deterioration of the normative framework, leading to dysfunctional global governance and accountability.

The Special Rapporteur highlighted that wartime strategies and geopolitical competition involve attacks on food supplies and infrastructure, economic coercion via tariffs, debt, and sanctions, the financialization of nature, and increased military spending that diverts funds away from transforming food systems.

Additionally, Monsalve Suárez addressed broader systemic challenges, stating that modern agro-industrial food systems contribute heavily to the planetary crisis by prioritizing corporate concentration and profit maximization over collective well-being.

Monsalve Suárez called on all UN Member States to uphold the right to food and prioritize ending all wars, illegal occupations, and conflicts as the most direct path to preventing famine and malnutrition. She also urged reforms to the international financial architecture, including debt relief and restructuring mechanisms, to facilitate necessary food system transformations.

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