19.09.2024
Location:
Online:
Norwegian Red Cross, meeting
room “Humanitet”
Click to participate online
Date: 23 September
Time: 08:30 – 09:30
Moderator:
Introduction:
Panelists:
Ramon Olaf Broers
Anne Bergh, and MFA (tbd)
Aida El Sayed, Thor Olav
Iversen, Norad (tbd)
FOOD SECURITY IN CONFLICTS:
SUDAN EXAMPLE
BACKGROUND
Nowhere are the consequences of the global food crisis felt more acutely than in countries already
facing humanitarian crises and torn apart by warfare and instability. During these extreme situations,
civilians cannot survive for long without food and water; they need all the support they can receive –
yet conflicting parties wage their battles in ways that make food production, distribution and
acquisition dangerous and difficult. Starving civilians as a method of warfare is absolutely prohibited
under international humanitarian law, and conflicting parties cannot attack, destroy, or remove food,
water, agricultural areas, crops, and livestock – yet this happens repeatedly during combat.
Up to 757 million people experienced food insecurity in 2023, and in the hardest hit continent Africa it
impacted 1 out of 5 people. This is 152 million more people than in 2019. Perhaps more staggering, 2.8
billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2022. The current armed conflicts in Sudan and Gaza
demonstrate how civilians bear the brunt of conflict, not soldiers. 17 months into the conflict, Sudan is
facing the worst level of acute food insecurity ever recorded by the Integrated Food Security Phase
Classification (IPC) in the country. Over half the population (25.6 million people) face a food crisis and
755,000 of those face catastrophic levels that lead to death and life-threatening levels of malnutrition.
Nearly a year into the armed conflict in Gaza almost the entire population (96%) face a food crisis,
including 495,000 people who face catastrophic levels. How do we put this in context, compared to
other years and other crises? What can be done, and what are we doing to alleviate the suffering?
SCHEDULE
08:30 Opening remarks Anne Bergh/Secretary General NoRC
08:35 Norway’s role in improving food security
in vulnerable countries like Sudan
MFA (tbd)
08:45 Panel discussion on:
Food security in Sudan and how the
Sudanese Red Crescent responds
Global food security, present and future
Protracted conflicts and the importance
of a long-term perspective
Aida Elsayed/Secretary General Sudan RC
Thor Olav Iversen/Senior Researcher/ NUPI
Representative from Norad (tbd)
09:15 Closing remarks Ramon Broers/Senior Advisor Africa NoRC
Location:
Online:
Norwegian Red Cross, meeting
room “Humanitet”
Click to participate online
Date: 23 September
Time: 08:30 – 09:30
Moderator:
Introduction:
Panelists:
Ramon Olaf Broers
Anne Bergh, and MFA (tbd)
Aida El Sayed, Thor Olav
Iversen, Norad (tbd)