UN chief warns against use of hunger as weapon of war

Sadik Kedir Abdu 
Tuesday July 29, 2025

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned against the use of hunger as a tool of war and called for urgent reforms to a global food system that is failing millions.

“We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war,” Guterres said in a video message to heads of state and international delegates at the opening of the second UN Food Systems Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The UN chief said conflict continues to be a leading driver of hunger, pointing to crisis zones from Gaza to Sudan and beyond where violence is pushing people into deeper levels of food insecurity.

Many international actors have accused Israel of using famine and starvation in Gaza as a weapon of war.

Guterres highlighted the systemic failures contributing to the crisis, noting that one-third of the world’s population cannot afford a healthy diet, while one-third of all food produced is either lost or wasted.

He added that the hidden costs of food systems, which are measured in health, environmental damage, and human suffering, amount to $10 trillion per year, nearly three times the value of the food economy itself.

“This is not just a crisis of scarcity but of justice, equity, and climate,” Guterres said.

The three-day summit is co-hosted by the governments of Ethiopia and Italy, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Opening remarks were delivered by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who are co-hosting the event, and other leaders in attendance, including Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Kenyan President William Ruto.

Senior UN officials, including FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, IFAD President Alvaro Lario, and UNDP Africa Regional Director Ahunna Eziakonwa, also addressed the gathering.

The summit is focused on assessing progress since the first such summit in 2021. Its agenda is guided by three core priorities: reflecting on national and global progress, strengthening partnerships and tracking commitments, and unlocking financing to accelerate food systems transformation.

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}