Following the publication of the Standing Together for Nutrition’s Comment in the Lancet, we, the global health and nutrition communities, raise our voices against the intentional deprivation of food and aid in Gaza, and in other countries including Sudan, South Sudan, and Yemen.

This unimaginable suffering is not by accident, it is engineered. It is driven by the willful obstruction of humanitarian support, and the calculated and systematic destruction of essential infrastructure. 

Today, more than a million people are currently enduring the most extreme level of food insecurity, based on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, with children and women facing the gravest consequences. Children’s growth, health, and futures are being stolen. These actions are not only in breach of international humanitarian law, but they will also inflict long-term damage that will echo across generations. 

The science is clear. We know what works and we know the consequences of inaction. Humanitarian organizations must be allowed to provide nutritious food, clean water, medical care, today, without delay or fear for their safety.

This is not a time for silence. The violence must end. Relief must reach those in need. Every day we delay means more preventable suffering and death. Every human has the fundamental right to food, the most basic requirement for human dignity and survival.