UN speaker says armed conflict is driving famine in Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere; urges political leverage and accountability

Joyce Musuya, Speaker, told a United Nations council session that armed conflict is driving the world’s most severe food crises and urged member states to use political leverage, improve humanitarian access and strengthen accountability to prevent famine.

Referencing the latest hunger-hotspots analysis, Musuya said “the world’s most extreme food crises, including the famines in parts of the Gaza Strip and Sudan, are driven primarily by armed conflict and violence.” She cited country-level impacts, saying that in Yemen “17,000,000 people are going hungry and another 1,000,000 are forecast,” and that more than 21,000,000 people in Sudan face high levels of acute food insecurity, according to IPC analysis.

Musuya described how attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure force farmers off their land,…