Remarks as delivered by Carl Skau, Acting Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), during the United Nations Security Council open debate: Food Under Fire: The Security Council’s Role in Mitigating Global and Local Food Crises. 25 August 2026 Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President, and thanks to the Government of Denmark, to you, Minister Rasmussen, for convening us on this timely and important topic. And let me also recognize and thank the Secretary General for his leadership. It was your letter, Mr. Secretary General, that triggered the discussion back in '17 that led to this important resolution, the Resolution 2417, a year later. Indeed, a landmark resolution adopted by consensus, recognizing the vicious conflict-hunger cycle, how conflict drives hunger, but also how hunger fuels conflict. Excellencies, I was one of you back then, representing a member state on this Council. Today I am proud to represent the World Food Programme, an organisation awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020 for its efforts to combat hunger, but also for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict areas. That was a time of optimism for the World Food Programme. With the strong support of this Council and with the recognition of the Nobel Committee, we thought a world without hunger was within reach. But fast forward to today, 2026, only six years later, and the picture is very different. The vicious conflict-hunger cycle is instead accelerating. In this short period of time, the number of acutely food insecure has increased threefold while funding for operations has plummeted. And as the SG just pointed out, it's more dangerous than ever for our colleagues in the field. In my role at WFP, I have the privilege to frequently visit frontline teams in the most complex of environments. Today, I will draw from that firsthand experience, sharing with you what the conflict hunger cycle really looks like in practice, and of course, point to how the Security Council, i
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