Conflict, Hunger & International Humanitarian Law Handbook Launch

Table of Contents

Lord Collins of Highbury, UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, launched the Conflict, Hunger and International Humanitarian Law Handbook on 6 May 2025.

This initiative aims to clarify legal obligations to prevent hunger in conflict zones, addressing crises in Gaza, Sudan, and the DRC while reinforcing the UK’s commitment to global humanitarian leadership.

Addressing Global Hunger Crises

The newly launched handbook is a significant step towards addressing hunger in conflict zones by clarifying legal obligations under international humanitarian law.

It highlights the dire situations in regions like Gaza, where nearly all residents face emergency food insecurity due to blocked aid. The UK has responded with a £120 million aid package for Sudan aimed at combating malnutrition among vulnerable children.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), hunger levels have reached unprecedented highs. In 2024 alone, UK programs assisted 3.5 million people affected by conflict-driven food shortages.

The handbook provides actionable guidance for governments and NGOs to uphold humanitarian law in these challenging environments.

Legal Frameworks and Diplomatic Efforts

The handbook aligns with UN Security Council Resolution 2417 (2018), which links conflict-driven hunger to international law.

This alignment underscores the UK’s diplomatic efforts to ensure compliance with international standards and may pressure nations that violate aid access agreements.

Lord Collins’ appointment as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State has brought renewed focus on nutrition and conflict resolution.

His decade-long experience as a shadow minister informs his approach to leveraging legal frameworks for effective humanitarian interventions.

Humanitarian Challenges

Gaza faces severe food insecurity affecting nearly all residents due to blocked aid.
The UK’s £120 million aid package targets malnutrition in Sudan’s vulnerable children.
Record-high hunger levels persist in the DRC despite ongoing assistance efforts.
The handbook offers practical guidance for upholding humanitarian law globally.

Aid Effectiveness and Future Scenarios

The handbook addresses critical gaps in enforcing humanitarian law, directly impacting UK diplomatic efforts and aid effectiveness.

For professionals in development and policy sectors, this signals increased scrutiny on compliance with potential funding shifts toward legal frameworks rather than direct aid alone.

Full Speech (As Delivered)

“Good morning.

It’s great to see you all.

Welcome to the Foreign Office.

For those of us lucky enough to have all the comforts we need in life it is hard to imagine how it feels to have no choice but to go without food or be forced to eat what hardly nourishes the soul and the body.

Sadly, the heart breaking reality is that millions of people today suffer from an extreme lack of food and are acutely malnourished due to conflicts.

This cannot go on and the UK is determined to act.

Part of the answer is providing clarity on what the law is and how we can comply with it.

That is why I’m privileged to be launching a new handbook to promote compliance with International Humanitarian Law and its critical role in addressing hunger in armed conflict.

Improving food security and nutrition are not just part of my job, I’m personally invested in this mission.

Before joining the government last July, I served as a shadow minister for a decade, where I was focused on driving up the global agenda on nutrition.

Earlier this year, the World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization warned that conflict has increased acute food insecurity in 17 countries, affecting as many as 175 million people across the world.

Many of these people have been suffering for years, trapped in never-ending conflicts.

Sadly Gaza is the example we think of most.

Almost the whole of Gaza is facing emergency levels of food insecurity, including Gaza’s one million children. The World Food Programme’s stocks have run out.

That is why together with our partners, we are denouncing the two-month long block on humanitarian aid and calling on Israel to immediately restart a rapid and unimpeded flow of lifesaving help.

It is hard to believe now that merely two decades ago the international community had confined famines to history.

Yet over the last decade we have seen a sizeable increase in the number and severity of conflicts.

Climate change and economic shocks have only compounded the problem.

In eastern DRC, hunger and malnutrition are at record levels and growing.

Trade routes and food production have been severely disrupted, and humanitarian access is limited.

Through our humanitarian programme, we have helped three and a half million people last year and are working flat out to reach as many people as we can.

And the United Kingdom has called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of all Rwandan Defence Forces from Congolese territory. I am hoping that there is positive news from discussions last weekend but the situation is dire.

If we turn to Sudan, we see farms, food markets, and water treatment facilities being destroyed by the conflict and the siege of El Fasher is causing immense suffering.

Last month the Foreign Secretary co-hosted the Sudan Conference in London urging the warring parties to allow unrestricted humanitarian access, protect civilians and end the conflict.

The United Kingdom is providing a further £120 million to deliver lifesaving food and nutrition supplies, including for vulnerable children at risk of wasting – a lifelong condition that will affect the ability for economic development and growth.

It is a failure of the international system that babies and young children in conflict settings frequently suffer and die due to acute malnutrition.

Last year at the G20, the Prime Minster launched the Joint UN Initiative for the Prevention of Wasting to help find the best ways to prevent malnutrition and save lives.

All of these initiatives show that despite cuts to the UK’s development budget, the UK remains fully committed to playing a key humanitarian role globally.

And this handbook is a key part of our global mission to improve compliance with international humanitarian law.

The landmark United Nations Security Council resolution 2417, adopted in 2018, made hunger in conflict a political issue, and rightly so.

Because famines are significantly less like to occur if all warring parties comply with international humanitarian law.

Now, while not all causes of hunger are violations of this law, many rules are of course crucial in avoiding hunger and malnutrition.

Our Handbook provides clear information on the law and how to follow it, with suggestions for good practices.

Indeed, the Handbook firmly backs the agenda set out in that Security Council Resolution.

By helping parties comply with the law.

By making policy discussions more informed.

And by equipping partners with the necessary information to promote compliance with the law.

So I’m pleased to share that from today, the Handbook is free and publicly available.

We will soon be rolling it out throughout the government and our diplomatic missions.

I hope that you and partners across the world will use it in your mission to tackle food insecurity in armed conflicts.

This week, as we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day and reflect on the peace and freedoms we cherish, the international community must redouble its commitment to end the scourge of conflict and hunger.

Because change is only possible when all of us, all of us, work together as one team.”