UCC-Defence Forces Lecture Series on ‘The case for starvation as a security issue’ by Dr Caitriona Dowd, Assistant Professor in Security Studies at Dublin City University’s School of Law and Government.

25 Mar 2022

‘The case for starvation as a security issue’, Dr Caitriona Dowd, UCC-Defence Forces Lecture Series – on-line lecture, Thursday 31^st March 2022, 6.30-8.00pm.

Dr Caitriona Dowd, Dublin City University, will deliver the next UCC-Defence Forces Lecture on ‘The case for starvation as a security issue’, Thurs 31st March, 6.30-8.00pm. The lecture will be on-line at: https://bit.ly/ucc-lecture-march (- no registration is necessary).

Violent conflict is recognised as the main driver of food crisis for over 100 million people globally, while recent food security forecasts predict that almost 50million people worldwide are at risk of famine. While the human security consequences of conflict for hunger are well-documented, there is far less consensus on how – and under what conditions – food resources are actively and strategically leveraged by armed actors in conflict. In key international arenas, such as the UN Security Council, we continue to see resistance to the framing of starvation as a security issue, with considerable division over whether conflict-driven hunger should remain primarily a developmental and economic concern. This talk will present the case for understanding conflict-driven food crisis as a fundamental security concern. Far from being an incidental, or inevitable, consequence of violence, analysis of the profiles of armed actors who target food systems in conflict, and the patterns and systematicity of such attacks, reveals how food crises are a specific consequence of the way some wars are waged. This re-framing has implications for understanding armed group tactics, strategies for civilian protection, and the wider legal, security and policy environment in which accountability for starvation in war is pursued.

Caitriona Dowd is an Assistant Professor in Security Studies at Dublin City University’s School of Law and Government. Her research focuses on the dynamics of political violence in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on the role of conflict in humanitarian crises; starvation and hunger in war; and the use of new and emerging methodologies for violence monitoring. Her work has been published in leading international peer-reviewed journals including Terrorism and Political Violence and Peacebuilding. Caitriona is Programme Chair of Dublin City University’s MA in International Security and Conflict Studies and MA in International Relations, and leads graduate-level teaching in international security, peacebuilding, and quantitative methods for conflict analysis. In her former role as a peace and conflict specialist in the humanitarian sector, Caitriona worked in Somalia, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Mali, Ethiopia, Central African Republic and North-East Nigeria, among other locations.

The UCC-Defence Forces Lecture Series aims to contribute to informed public debate on contemporary global security challenges, how such problems may impact on Ireland and how Ireland can contribute to addressing regional and global security threats. The lecture series is jointly organised by the Defence Forces and UCC’s Colleges of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences and Business and Law.

Lecture details:

• ‘The case for starvation as a security issue’
• Dr Caitriona Dowd, Dublin City University
• Thurs 31st March, 6.30-8.00pm
• The lecture will be on-line at: https://bit.ly/ucc-lecture-march (- no registration is necessary).
• The lecture will also be available afterwards so that people may view it later if they wish.

For more on this story contact:

Prof. Andrew Cottey

EU Jean Monnet Chair in European Political Integration

Department of Government and Politics

University College Cork