Act now

Dear Global Leaders,

In 2021, there should be no place in the world for famine or hunger. Shockingly, this year, for the first time in decades, conflict is driving multiple countries to the brink of famine.

Over 41 million people are at imminent risk of starvation – and the majority of these people live in areas ravaged by conflict. Conflict and displacement disrupt every facet of people’s lives and livelihoods. Families forced to flee from conflict cannot grow crops or farm livestock, destroying their livelihoods and sources of food.

In conflict zones around the world, hunger is weaponised by warring parties. Not only are crops and livestock deliberately destroyed, civilians are also systematically denied access to humanitarian assistance.

Meanwhile, children in conflict face increased risk of malnutrition, leaving them more likely to die as a result of hunger and disease than due to violence.

Global hunger is on the rise, and conflict is the main driver. If current trends persist, 85% of the world’s poorest people will live in fragile and conflict-affected countries by 2030. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Conflict-driven hunger is human-made, and so, too, are the solutions. You, as a global leader, are part of that solution. You can play an important role to ensure that people whose lives have already been devastated by conflict have access to safe, sufficient, nutritious food.

The Security Council’s unanimous support for Resolution 2417, passed in 2018, was a strong signal that the international community refuses to accept hunger as a tactic of warfare, or as an inevitable consequence of war.

Now is the time to break the cycle between conflict and hunger for good. The action you must urgently take is clear. Act to save the lives of millions of people on the brink of famine in conflict-affected countries by:

1. Providing the emergency funding needed to guarantee humanitarian assistance for 41 million people who are at risk of starvation right now;
2. Supporting humanitarian, development, and foreign policy that will break the cycle between conflict and hunger for good and prevent future famines; and
3. Investigating, condemning, and taking action against those who use starvation as a weapon of war, as the UN Security Council agreed to do in Resolution 2417.