Will we let hunger define another generation?

As famine re-emerges, leaders must show global hunger is not inevitable but a failure of will

Alaa Adam from Sudan protesting against the RDF Militia and atrocities in El Fasher, Sudan, on O'Connell Street, Dublin. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

On the banks of Dublin’s River Liffey, a haunting bronze procession stands as a reminder that hunger is never just about food. 

The Famine Memorial depicts gaunt figures frozen in exodus an image of dignity, survival, and memory. The Great Famine (1845–1849) halved Ireland’s population, and its legacy endures in the nation’s moral conscience. 

For Ireland, food and nutrition security is central to foreign policy, rooted in empathy forged through history’s harshest lessons.

History may not repeat itself neatly, but it echoes. The United Nations, drawing on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), has confirmed famine in parts of Sudan and Gaza. South Sudan, Yemen, Haiti, and Mali hover dangerously close to the same threshold, while countless others face severe food insecurity. 

Hunger is more than the absence of food — it is the uncertainty of when or if one will eat again. For children, the consequences are devastating: stunted growth, weakened immunity, disrupted learning, and the erosion of potential that shapes entire lives.

Action is demanded in the face of such human tragedy. At the United Nations General Assembly, World Vision, the Government of Ireland and the SDG2 Advocacy Hub convened global leaders to confront a simple question: how can we accelerate progress on ending hunger and malnutrition when the world is so far off-track? 

The United Nations has confirmed famine in parts of Sudan and Gaza. Picture: AP/Karel Prinsloo

Representatives from Brazil, Spain, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Norway, France, the Netherlands, UN agencies, and civil society gathered not for ceremony but for candour. The mood was frustration, but also determination to act together.

Ireland’s leadership on food and nutrition is substantive. Its commitment to Official Development Assistance, reaffirmed with an increased allocation in Budget 2026, is commendable and catalytic. 

Elsewhere, political will is waning. Donors tighten belts while humanitarian agencies are urged to “do more with less”, a refrain that risks normalising scarcity.

Public support for action remains strong in Ireland. Recent Dóchas research shows 76% of Irish people believe the Government should provide overseas aid, and nearly three in five feel a personal moral obligation to support it. 

This empathy is rooted in history, with a collective memory of hunger inspiring solidarity with others facing the same injustice today.

Investment in child nutrition delivers extraordinary returns. Interventions targeting the first 1,000 days from conception to age two are among the most cost-effective for human and economic development. 

The World Bank estimates a $23 return for every $1 invested. Well-nourished children are healthier, learn better, and grow into adults capable of breaking the cycles of poverty that perpetuate hunger.

Seven-month-old Salem Awad, suffering from severe malnutrition, lies on a mattress in his family's tent in Gaza City in July. Picture: AP /Jehad Alshrafi

Yet evidence alone rarely drives change. Leadership does: the willingness to prioritise, take risks, and inspire. Encouragingly, Ireland is not alone. Brazil and Spain are pioneering domestic nutrition initiatives; Tanzania is mobilising resources for health and food systems. This convergence of ambition is precisely what the moment demands.

We already have the solutions and where they are implemented, we are seeing success. From targeted child nutrition programmes to integrated food systems approaches, the results are clear. What is missing is the collective will to rally around these opportunities and help them reach scale.

Time does not wait. The funding gap for global nutrition is widening even as needs escalate. Ireland’s influence presents rare opportunities to drive change.

Its upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union in July 2026 offers a platform to shape EU priorities and steer negotiations on global food and nutrition security. Beyond process, this is a moment for purpose to amplify the voices of those too often unheard in global policy debates.

Equally significant is Ireland’s invitation to participate in the G20 throughout 2025 as a guest country under South Africa’s presidency, recognising its stature as a champion for the world’s most vulnerable. 

Within the G20, Ireland can advocate for smarter investment in child nutrition, promote innovative financing for food systems transformation, and elevate the urgency of action in the face of escalating hunger crises. 

The Famine Memorial stands not as a relic, but as a warning. Hunger is never inevitable — it is the consequence of choices made or not made by those with power. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

It can also strengthen the G20’s Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, launched under Brazil’s presidency, as a mechanism for coordinated and sustained progress. These are not ceremonial opportunities. They demand courage not caution. The real question is not whether we can end hunger, but whether we will act with the urgency this crisis demands.

Transformation does not happen in isolation. When governments, civil society, international organisations, and the private sector align priorities, pool expertise, and amplify resolve, progress accelerates. 

The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty is one example, proving shared purpose can dismantle entrenched barriers and spark systemic change.

Yet convergence must be more than coordination. It must be conviction in motion, and a shared refusal to accept hunger as collateral damage in an unequal world.

The Famine Memorial stands not as a relic, but as a warning. Hunger is never inevitable — it is the consequence of choices made or not made by those with power. As another cycle of pledges and summits approaches, we must ensure next year’s conversations are not haunted by the same unanswered questions.

Leadership, urgency, and convergence are not abstract ideals. They are imperatives. History will judge not the eloquence of our commitments, but the courage of our actions. Let us ensure that, this time, we are remembered not for our silence, but for our resolve.

• Gillian Barnett is chief executive of World Vision Ireland; Paul Newnham is chief executive of SDG2 Advocacy hub; and Dana Buzducea is partnership leader for advocacy and external engagement at World Vision International