Promo image for Policy Dialogues Conference: Hunger as a Weapon, which will be held May 24, 2023. (Photo courtesy of GNSI)
The United Nations (UN) Security Council adopted a resolution condemning the starving of civilians as a method of warfare in 2018鈥攁s well as the unlawful denial of humanitarian access to civilian populations鈥攚ith members welcoming it as a landmark expression of unity on those critical issues.
This resolution, however, has not stopped state and non-state entities around the globe from continuing to use hunger as a weapon to suppress, coerce and control populations.
To further examine this issue, the 91社区 (USF) will host the inaugural Policy Dialogues Conference, created by the Global and National Security Institute (GNSI), on May 24 on the Tampa campus.
鈥淗unger as a Weapon鈥� is the first in a series of conferences that assesses non-traditional issues of global and national security. Less than a year into its existence, GNSI has already coalesced around the strategic focus of driving conversations around national security away from strictly traditional topics, like military, government and defense.
The conference will bring together the best ideas from a diverse array of specialists, each an expert in their discipline, with the end goal of being able to provide actionable solutions for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels.
Partnering with the USF College of Arts and Sciences and the Center for the Advancement of Food Security and Healthy Communities鈥�(CAFSHC), the event will feature two panels and four breakout sessions.
The first of the panels focuses on 鈥淕lobal Hunger: Generator of Social, Economic and Political Instability,鈥� and the second will address 鈥淔ood Insecurity in the United States: A Domestic Policy Challenge.鈥�
Leading one of the breakout sessions will be , director of public policy and research at . Sova will provide an in-depth assessment of the historical report 鈥淒angerously Hungry,鈥� on which he was the lead author, issued by the UN World Food Program. In a second breakout session, a senior member of the leadership team from the (USAID), the world's premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results, will lead a fireside chat with conference attendees.
Executive Director of GNSI and former commander of the United States Central Command, General (Ret.) Frank McKenzie, who will be the conference鈥檚 opening speaker, shared why he believes now is the time to bring this issue to the forefront.
General (Ret) Frank McKenzie is the conference鈥檚 opening speaker. (Photo courtesy of GNSI)
Dr. David Himmelgreen will serve as one of the panelists during the conference. (Photo by Alessandra Casanova)
鈥淢omentum is building across the globe to condemn the use of hunger as a weapon of
war and our goal is to increase that momentum,鈥� said McKenzie. 鈥淗unger has been used
as a weapon since the first war ever fought, and that includes the Civil War here
in the United States.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 only recently, however, that governments and global organizations have publicly and formally stood against it,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚n 1977, the Geneva Convention outlawed the practice. In 2018, the United Nations followed suit and right now, the United States Congress and Senate are considering resolutions to formally condemn the use of hunger as a weapon.鈥�
Professor of anthropology and director of CAFSHC, Dr. David Himmelgreen, has been working closely with GNSI leadership to help invite influential speakers to the conference. He voiced his concern with the current state of food security in the U.S. and what he hopes will change in the coming years.
鈥淩ecently,鈥疶he Economist reported that the and that it lags behind other countries when it comes to policy commitments to food security, the health of its land, and the impact of land degradation on food production,鈥� said Himmelgreen. 鈥淲e鈥檙e confident that this conference will spur more discussion and policy changes that promote food security at home and abroad.鈥�
鈥淯ltimately, this is both a national and global security issue,鈥� concluded Himmelgreen.
The Policy Dialogues Conference: Hunger as a Weapon will be held May 24, 2023 at the Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions on the USF Tampa campus. The event will also be live-streamed. If you are interested in attending, please .