Antony Blinken (United States/Security Council President) on the priorities during its presidency of the UN Security Council other topics - Security Council Media Stakeout

Remarks from Secretary Blinken:

"We’re here today and using our presidency of the Security Council this month to focus in on the rising challenge of global food insecurity. We’ve seen an almost perfect storm emerge in recent years, a combination of climate change, of COVID, and now particularly of conflict that is driving this food insecurity. There are now about 260 million people around the world who are acutely food insecure. And in turn, this food insecurity itself drives conflict; it drives forced migration. It stunts growth, both physical growth and economic growth. It holds countries back. It holds people back.

The flip side of the coin is we’re also increasingly seeing food being used as a weapon of war, for leverage, for political purposes in conflict after conflict. So, we wanted to put the focus on both of these challenges: rising food insecurity and, at the same time, the use of food as a weapon of war. We’ve just had 91 countries commit in a joint communique to ending the use of food as a tool of war. That, in and of itself, is a powerful statement, and we urge others to join."