New York, 25th August, 2026
Madame President, colleagues,
Italy fully aligns itself with the Statement delivered by the European Union and wishes to add some further remarks in its national capacity.
Let us begin by thanking Denmark for organizing this timely event during its Security Council’s Presidency. The issue of Conflict-Related Food Insecurity is of great importance at this juncture and a top priority for Italy.
We are concerned by the escalating global food crisis, where protracted armed conflicts and systemic disruptions to supply chains continue to drive millions into acute hunger. By formally linking conflict with hunger and explicitly condemning the weaponization of food as a potential war crime, Resolution 2417 marks a watershed that fundamentally reshaped the international normative framework governing the protection of civilians.
However, eight years after its unanimous adoption, compliance remains insufficient and a critical gap persists between this landmark text and its operationalization on the ground.
The human cost of this “implementation gap” is stark.
This year’s report on the protection of civilians from the Secretary-General Office points to a deeply alarming scenario, with more than 147 million people facing acute food insecurity caused by conflict, while local populations in Gaza and Sudan are enduring extreme conditions of malnutrition and poverty, in both cases induced by conflict.
Italy’s humanitarian initiatives highlight our commitment to safeguarding civilians and sustaining food systems in such conflict-affected areas, where food security has traditionally been one of our main areas of intervention. With the “Food for Gaza” initiative, we delivered approximately 2,400 tons of food, medical and relief supplies to the Gaza Strip, working together in an integrated manner with the private sector and civil society organizations, and in close coordination with international organizations such as the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Building on that experience and in a similar spirit, Italy then launched “Italy for Sudan” to deliver much needed aid to the population. In Ukraine, we have consistently supported Kiev’s authorities and the WFP with the “Grain from Ukraine” initiative, which assists the Country in its grain production and export capacity, mitigating the ramifications of Russia’s aggression, which go well beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Because of the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, we assist today to yet a new kind of food crisis, with ramifications so global that they would be unprecedented. Famine risks loom over a number of countries as fertilizer shortages and rising fuel prices threaten to push tens of millions more people into acute food insecurity. The FAO has highlighted that disruptions in the Strait have already affected the movement of oil, liquefied natural gas, sulfur and fertilizers, leading to higher agricultural input costs worldwide.
Italy is working closely with the FAO and recognizes the important role of its Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), a platform – now focused also on fertilizer markets – aimed at strengthening transparency in periods of heightened volatility and uncertainty. Furthermore, Italy was instrumental, together with Croatia, in launching the “Rome Coalition on Fertilizer Access and Food Security” initiative within the MED9 framework last May.
Madame President,
Italy fully supports Security Council Resolution 2417 but the grim data about conflict-driven acute food insecurity underscore, unfortunately, that this landmark resolution has yet to fully deliver on its objectives.
Italy stands ready to help bridging this gap and to work to transform its commitments into more robust monitoring, reporting and accountability mechanisms, integrating the contributions of the Rome-based UN Agencies – FAO, IFAD and WFP – that remain at the heart of global efforts to make food systems more resilient, sustainable and inclusive. As host country, Italy keeps investing in strengthening and improving the effectiveness of the RBAs governance and we stand ready to contribute even more actively to its leadership in the years ahead.
The nexus between conflict and food security reminds us, however, that the Security Council should not only react to local crises where food insecurity is driven by conflict, but also assess wider patterns, in order to prevent conflict from disrupting global food supplies. To be up to this task, the Council has to evolve.
In this vein, Italy actively supports a comprehensive reform of the Security Council within the IGN framework and acknowledges the urgent need for such a reform. We stand ready to work with all Member States to achieve a more accountable, representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, and democratic Security Council. We shall endeavor to be flexible and open to ideas for how to achieve that outcome and encourage others to do the same, being open and flexible.
Thank you.
