UN Security Council Hears Algeria on Famine as War Weapon
Algeria formally requested the United Nations Security Council to implement concrete measures aimed at ending the use of famine as a weapon of war. During a meeting focused on mitigating global and local food crises, Algeria's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Mehdi Litim, highlighted the severity of concurrent food crises that impacted populations in Ghaza and Sudan in 2025, noting that the Global Report on Food Crises reported two simultaneous famines for the first time. Mr. Litim emphasized that famine can never be justified as a method of warfare.
In Ghaza, the humanitarian situation was described as an "open and gaping wound," with recent data indicating 1.4 million people face acute food insecurity. Mr. Litim deplored the dire reality where children are dying from malnutrition while vital aid trucks remain blocked. Algeria reiterated its call for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access in the Palestinian enclave. Regarding Sudan, the nation is experiencing one of the world's most severe acute food insecurity emergencies, with 19.5 million people, nearly 41% of its population, facing high levels of acute food insecurity, including 135,000 individuals trapped in catastrophic famine conditions and 825,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
Obstacles to humanitarian access, deliberate attacks on supply routes, and destruction of food production systems continue to prevent aid from reaching those most in need in Sudan. Algeria expressed concern over the "collapse" of international funding for the food sector, which has reportedly reached its lowest level in a decade. Algeria insists that parties to conflict have a strict obligation to protect civilians and essential infrastructure, including food production and water supply systems. The nation called for specific measures, including robust early warning mechanisms for attacks on food and water infrastructure, mobilization of resources for reconstruction, guaranteed safe humanitarian access, accountability for attackers of civilian infrastructure, and a specific sanctions regime against parties violating Resolution 2417 by using famine as a weapon of war.
Algeria underscored its unwavering commitment to working with partners to uphold international humanitarian law, protect human dignity, and promote lasting peace where hunger is no longer instrumentalized against humanity. This commitment is further demonstrated by Algeria's co-chairmanship of the Working Group on the Protection of Civilian Infrastructure within the Global Initiative to strengthen political engagement for international humanitarian law, and its signing of the Declaration on the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel in September 2025.
