Checked Against Delivery
Let me start by thanking you, Secretary-General Guterres, Acting Executive Director Skau and co-Chief Executive Officer Dr. Benoist for your remarks and importantly, your recommendations.
Excellencies,
Eight years ago, this Council adopted a landmark resolution on conflict and hunger that explicitly recognises the link between armed conflict and hunger and food insecurity.
It also condemned the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.
That Resolution contained a number: 74 million. The number of people facing conflict-induced hunger around the world at that time.
Today, few years later, that number has doubled to 147 million.
Conflict remains the primary driver of hunger, accounting for more than half of all people facing severe hunger.
More than 20,000 attacks on markets, farmland and food distribution systems have been recorded since the adoption of 2417 in 2018.
Excellencies,
Food is under fire. Crops are burned. Markets attacked. Aid denied.
In Sudan, the warring parties have targeted agriculture, attacked UN warehouses and denied access to relief while famine was confirmed on their watch.
In Gaza, a period blockading aid and continued restrictions have left children stunted, destroyed farmland, and an entire population dependent on supplies that barely make it through.
For the first time this century, in 2025 famine was declared in two different places in the same time– in Sudan and Gaza. In relation to both crises, Members of this Council have recalled that the use of starvation as a weapon of war is clearly banned under international humanitarian law.
The UN has in addition warned of the risk of famine in South Sudan and Somalia before the end of this year.
So let us be clear. The blocking, intentional creation and use of hunger and starvation of civilians as a method of warfare constitute a brutal and illegal tactic – wherever and whenever it is committed.
Excellencies,
Wars are now colliding with the global food system itself and increasing hunger across borders and continents.
In the wake of the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Black Sea Crisis taught us what happens when a breadbasket becomes a battlefield. Sadly, the flow of food supplies in the Black Sea is now again disrupted.
Iran’s unlawful closure of the Strait of Hormuz is just another example of what happens when a vital passageway for fertilizer and oil is used as a tool of coercion.
Transits through the Strait have come to a near standstill. Unlawful Houthi attacks also threaten shipping through the Bab el Mandeb [bab el-Mandeb] Strait.
And as we have heard, the World Food Programme has estimated that the crisis and disruptions resulting from the Middle East conflict have pushed an additional 6.1 million people into acute food insecurity. and as we have also heard, World Food Programme warns that further 45 million people could be pushed into acute hunger. Many of them far from any frontline.
The situation heavily impacts humanitarian aid provision by spiking global fuel prices, inflating shipping and insurance costs, and delaying critical medical, food, and nutrition supplies. These disruptions worsen food insecurity in vulnerable regions worldwide.
And the answer is clear: The Strait of Hormuz must be reopened immediately. The right of passage must be upheld.
And this morning, our briefers have called for greater action from this Council.
We join that call.
We view Resolution 2417 as a powerful tool. But its potential remains untapped, particularly when it comes to early warning.
The Security Council must play its part. Around this table, we should address patterns, not only individual emergencies.
And early warning must spark early action.
Secretary-General, that is why Denmark welcomes your initiative in establishing the Task Force on the Strait of Hormuz. The safe passage of fertilizers must be ensured and we recognise your efforts in setting up this humanitarian mechanism.
Denmark is also ready to contribute to the defensive and independent Multinational Military Mission in the Strait of Hormuz in support of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, when conditions allow.
Excellencies,
Words matter here. Especially from this Council. When infrastructure is destroyed; when farmers are attacked and their land is seized. When the UN and its humanitarian partners are blocked from doing their job. We must speak up.
But speaking up definitely is not enough.
Resolution 2417 reminds us of the tools we have in order to act: From early warning to restrictive measures to ensure accountability.
What is needed is the will to use these tools.
This work can be supported by new technologies. Satellite data with patterns of obstruction or attacks. Digital access to areas where physical access is denied.
In this way, denial of physical access can no longer mean denial of the truth.
Finally, in emergencies, global food security supply chains must be protected. They are critical civilian infrastructure. They put food on tables thousands of miles away.
Humanitarian cargo, fertilizers and energy products must be granted safe passage.
Excellencies, in closing,
Going forward, let us make the right choices in this Council and make use of the tools at our disposal:
The millions on the brink of famine around the world are looking to us to do exactly just that. We cannot let them down.
Thank you.
