President Bio Chairs High-Level UN Security Council Debate, Calls Starvation a Crime in Conflicts

His Excellency Dr. Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone and Chair of the ECOWAS Authority, chaired a high-level United Nations Security Council debate on “Conflict-Related Food Insecurity” at UN Headquarters on Tuesday, 17 November 2025.

Addressing the Council for the second time during Sierra Leone’s tenure, President Bio warned that deliberate starvation is increasingly being used as a weapon of war, emphasizing that such acts are prohibited under international law. He described starvation as a “slow, silent, corrosive” form of violence that destroys food systems, livelihoods, and regional stability.

Highlighting conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, Ukraine, and the Sahel, he stressed that starvation should never be seen as collateral damage. “Starvation is not collateral damage but a crime; food insecurity is both a driver of conflict and a peacebuilding imperative,” he told the Council.

President Bio also showcased Sierra Leone’s Feed Salone Initiative as a national model linking food security with sustainable development. The four-pillar programme focusing on production, resilience, markets and value chains, and human capital aims to strengthen productivity, reduce import dependence, and build climate-smart systems that secure livelihoods.

At the regional level, he highlighted ECOWAS efforts to integrate food security into peacebuilding, early warning, and trade frameworks, including the expansion of the ECOWAS Food Security Reserve and the ECOWARN early warning network.

To strengthen global action, President Bio proposed six concrete measures, urging nations to protect food systems in conflict zones, safeguard humanitarian access, advance accountability for starvation crimes, link peacebuilding finance to agriculture, and prioritize women and youth in agricultural value chains.

Concluding his address, he called on the international community to “ensure that no child is starved into submission, no harvest held hostage, and no community driven to violence by hunger,” emphasizing that food security must be treated as central to peace and security, not a secondary humanitarian concern.