UN food rapporteur tells Third Committee that hunger is being used as a weapon of war, as global hunger falls slightly

Sofía Monsalve Suárez, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today that hunger is being used as a weapon of war. She reported that 1.4 million people no longer have access to food, a ninefold increase since 2016, and that 266 million people experience acute hunger daily. The figures are hers. The sources do not say how they were counted.

She told the Committee that six countries or territories have populations facing catastrophic conditions. The gravest cases, she said, are in long conflicts, including Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen and Gaza. She called the return of famine “an unprecedented moral challenge for our generation and for the future of humanity”, and condemned the impunity around such crimes.

UN News, the organization's own news service, reported that the number of hungry people has fallen slightly while famine situations multiply. It said Secretary-General António Guterres recalled in a video message that about 645 million people went hungry in 2025. UN News reported that Monsalve Suárez called for reform of the international financial architecture, less debt and, above all, an end to conflicts.

Monsalve Suárez warned that a powerful El Niño in 2026–2027 could bring drought to vulnerable regions. She said hostilities in the Black Sea have virtually halted grain exports from Ukraine and the Russian Federation, which together supply approximately 27 per cent of global wheat. She also said the war with Iran has severely disrupted fertilizer shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, through which one third of the world's fertilizer passes.

The World Food Programme, according to UN News, warned that three trade passages are disrupted at once: the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab el-Mandeb strait and the Black Sea. It said 16 countries had food inflation above 15 per cent in September, against 10 in January. The programme projects that El Niño could push 49 million more people into acute food insecurity by the end of 2027, across 45 countries. Carl Skau, its acting executive director, said the drivers of worsening hunger are largely man-made.

Other independent experts also addressed the Committee. Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, said young people are being punished for peaceful protest in countries including Serbia, India and Iran, where she said some face execution. India's delegate rejected her findings and called them “hearsay dressed up as a UN report”. Israel's representative dismissed the findings on her country as “baseless”. Cuba and Türkiye also questioned the evidence behind references to them.

Graeme Reid, Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, said lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other gender-diverse people face systemic barriers to humanitarian assistance. He said funding cuts and politically conditioned aid are weakening small community organizations that provide food and shelter. Cecilia Bailliet, Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity, said women organizing across borders increasingly face raids, surveillance, harassment and travel bans.

The special rapporteurs and independent experts are not UN staff and act in their own capacity, according to a note in the UN News report. The sources do not record a position from the United States delegation on the hunger findings.