United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for urgent action to break the vicious cycle of armed conflict and food insecurity across the globe.
Guterres said the link between conflict, violence and hunger is undeniable, stressing that Security Council Resolution 2417 – adopted in 2018 to address this nexus – must be implemented fully and consistently.
“Resolution 2417 recognizes the need to break the vicious cycle between armed conflict and food insecurity. Yet the vicious cycle rolls on. So today, I call on this Council to consider three measures to strengthen — and build on — this landmark resolution,” Guterres said during a Council debate on its role in mitigating global and local food crises.
First, Resolution 2417 must be implemented consistently and in full. For parties to conflict, this means not depriving civilians of objects indispensable to their survival — including food, crops, livestock and drinking water supplies — and refraining from attacking, destroying, removing or rendering them useless, Guterres said.
Second, food systems must be protected in their entirety. Conflict or violence must not keep farmers from their fields, keep crops trapped in or on the ground, or keep food supplies stuck in storage, he said.
And thirdly, humanitarian personnel must be protected, the UN chief stressed.
“It is no coincidence that 2025 saw not only the highest number of armed conflicts since World War II — but also among the highest levels of global acute hunger on record, with at least 266 million people facing acute food insecurity. 2025 also marked the first time this century that two famines were confirmed simultaneously, in Sudan and Gaza,” he added.
Guterres warned war not only directly destroys the agricultural production and food supply system, but also impacts the trade, energy and transportation networks, making the food crisis spread across national borders.
UN chief calls for ending vicious cycle of conflict, food insecurity across globe
International media on Saturday and Sunday visited the core disaster area of mudslide-hit Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border in southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region.
The reporters from the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Brazil among other countries and regions visited the area and learned about the disaster situation, ongoing rescue operations, and progress in recovery and reconstruction.
“China has this particular the capacity to address this kind of crisis. You have thousands of workers trained for this and you have machines made for this kind of efforts. And of course, our heart goes to them for the kind of work they are putting,” said KJM Varma Mokanda, a reporter from Press Trust of India.
The mudslide, triggered by a high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal on Aug 26, had left 43 people dead and 519 others missing at the border port as of 18:00 Saturday, the emergency response and rescue headquarters told a press conference on Sunday.
As of 18:00 Saturday, more than 2,500 people and over 500 vehicles had been deployed for the rescue, and more than 1,000 flights of drones had air-dropped 5.43 tons of supplies, officials said at the press conference.
International media visit mudslide-hit Gyirong Port
