In August 2026, the UN Security Council plans to convene a high-level open debate focused on conflict-related food insecurity. The discussion will take place under the agenda item on maintaining international peace and security and will be a central event of Denmark’s Council presidency. Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, is expected to chair the meeting. The session will hear from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Carl Skau, the acting executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), and a civil society representative, alongside Council members assessing recent developments and future options.
Recent reporting and early-warning analysis point to hunger worsening in multiple conflict settings, alongside deeper structural pressures such as funding shortfalls and disruptions to agricultural supply chains. Council action is likely to weigh humanitarian priorities and compliance expectations for parties involved in hostilities.
What the Council is expected to discuss
Council members are expected to examine how conflict and associated tactics, including attacks on civilians and on food-related infrastructure, contribute to starvation risks and large-scale malnutrition. The debate will also consider the extent to which the Security Council can address hunger beyond the immediate area of fighting, especially when regional shocks affect essential inputs like fertilizer and energy.
New hunger data highlights severe risks
A Secretary-General report on the protection of civilians covering 2025 states that more than 147 million people in 19 countries and territories experienced acute food insecurity linked to conflict. It also cites confirmations of two famines within the same year, including in Sudan and the Gaza Strip. Related assessments warn that acute food insecurity could intensify in multiple places during the second half of 2026, with several locations facing catastrophe-level conditions and continued famine risk.
Strait of Hormuz disruption adds a global shock
International reporting also stresses that disruptions tied to the Strait of Hormuz have become an additional driver of global food insecurity. Fertilizer shortages are expected to affect later harvests, while higher oil prices may push further populations toward hunger. WFP has estimated that, under sustained high oil prices, tens of millions could be affected.
Possible Council options and political divisions
Proposals for the August debate include supporting mechanisms aimed at easing humanitarian access and stabilizing the movement of supplies, and improving the timing and predictability of early warning responses. Members are also expected to consider how to strengthen accountability for starvation as a method of warfare. While there is broad agreement that conflict is a key cause of hunger, divisions persist over how far the Council should go and how issues should be framed, particularly amid wider geopolitical tensions.
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