Rahman, Nurul Hidayat binti Ab and Redwan bin Yasin. “Children Rights to ‘Zero
Hunger’ and the Execution Challenges during the COVID-19 Crisis” Hasanuddin
Law Review 8 no. 2 (2022): 139-159. DOI: 10.20956/halrev.v8i2.3684

HasanuddinLawReview
Volume 8 Issue 2, August 2022
P-ISSN: 2442-9880, E-ISSN: 2442-9899
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Children Rights to ‘Zero Hunger’ and the Execution
Challenges during the COVID-19 Crisis
Nurul Hidayat binti Ab Rahman, Redwan bin Yasin
1 Faculty of Law, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia. E-mail: nhidayat@ukm.edu.my
2 Faculty

of Defence and Management Studies, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia,
Malaysia. E-mail: redwan@upnm.edu.my

Abstract: ‘Zero hunger is the world’s pledge under the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, which aims
to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition. Nevertheless, the mission had been seized as
the world faced economic turndown due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. The circumstances have
brutally affected society’s ideal living standards and raised social problems such as extreme poverty,
famishment, malnutrition, and medical conditions, specifically among vulnerable children. The essential
purpose of this writing is to elucidate the ‘zero hunger goal as one of the central legal rights and identify
challenges in executing it during the COVID-19 crisis. Data were collected through library studies and
analyzed critically using the content analysis method. The writing finds that the progress of zero hunger is
decelerated as the pandemic has caused few challenges. The paper concludes that all objectives under the
SDG 2 are significant to be achieved to ensure vulnerable children’s survival. Thus, the paper recommends
that humanitarian relief assists with food distribution among those in dire need, especially at-risk children.
Furthermore, food and agricultural production must be maintained to guarantee enough food supply chain.
Ultimately, every government must comply with SDG 2, specifically for the benefit of vulnerable children.
Keywords: Child Law; COVID-19; Human Rights; Sustainable Development Goals 2030; Vulnerable Children;
Zero Hunger

1. Introduction
1.1. The Sustainable Development Goals 2030: The World Agenda
The Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs 2030), otherwise branded as the ‘World
Agenda’, is a set of aspirations initiated by the United Nations (UN). It was adopted by
193 world countries for 15 years, starting in 2015. 1 The central purpose of the World
Agenda is to guarantee equal opportunity to maximise their full potential in life in terms
of political, economic and environmental aspects for all people. Moreover, the objective
of the Agenda is meant to be applied to all human beings without any discrimination.
Hence, the pledge to ‘leave no one behind’ is embedded at the heart of the SDG 2030,

1

Stephen Morton, David Pencheon and Neil Squires, “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and
their implementation,” British Medical Bulletin 124, no. 1 (December 2017): 81-90,
https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldx031.

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and all State Members concurred to make a synergetic effort to aid the most vulnerable
groups first. 2
For example, the State of the World Children Report by the UN documented that in 2019,
20.7 % of children under five (5) suffered from stunting issues, while 11.5 % suffered from
wasting in Malaysia. The rate is higher in poor urban areas, whereby affordability, poorquality diets, meal frequency, and access to healthy foods are among the factors that
contribute to malnourishment among Malaysian children. To address the crisis, Malaysia
had developed a specific action plan, namely, ‘National Food Security Policy Action Plan
(2021-2025)’ (NFSP), to strengthen national food security issues and challenges regarding
the food chain. The NFSP covers five (5) core strategies, 15 strategies, and 96 initiatives
and is meant to guarantee the sustainability of the country’s food supply at all times,
especially for vulnerable groups of people and in unexpected situations.3
The term ‘vulnerable’ in a human rights perspective alludes to the circumstances
encountered by the underprivileged groups, such as discriminatory, cruel or inhumane
treatment. These conditions embark on the idea of providing those in need special
attention, care, and protection to help them with their prospect of life survival. The list
of vulnerable groups is not conclusive and varies depending on the field of research. For
instance, handicapped, ethnic minorities, illiterate, elderly, poor and homeless can be
vulnerable. Children are undoubtedly contemplated as vulnerable as their development
status is more unstable and fragile than adults, thus holding a unique position within
human rights protection. Nevertheless, other dynamics can further influence their
vulnerabilities, such as physical disability, mental illness, destitution, abuse and neglect. 4
Based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (CRC), immaturity in terms of
children's physical and mental condition require them to get exceptional care and legal
protection rights that start even before birth.
Several astounding results had been yielded through the implementation of the MDG
even though it had turned vain due to unequal or unfair distribution of the development
plan’s benefits to the vulnerable groups.5 According to the UN Department of Economic
and Social Affairs, the SDG plan had been established as to continue the MDG’s objectives
in more efficient ways and also to end discrimination against the vulnerable groups.
Therefore, ‘leave no one behind’ become the core value embedded in the 2030 Agenda
as it accentuated on the inclusivity of the vulnerable groups. There are interconnections
between all the 17 goals of the SDG making the achievement of each goal rely on the
others. For example, dealing with the risk of climate change impacts how we handle our
limited natural resources. Besides, achieving better health helps eliminate destitution
2 Inga T. Winkler and Margaret L. Satterthwaite, “Leaving no one behind? Persistent inequalities in the

SDG,” The International Journal of Human Rights 21, no. 8 (2017): 1073-1097,
https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2017.1348702.
3 “National Food Security Policy Action Plan 2021-2025,” Official Portal Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Industries, accessed August 8, 2022, https://www.mafi.gov.my/en/pelan-tindakan-dasar-sekuritimakanan-2021-2025.
4 Nancy Brule and Jessica J. Eckstein, “Vulnerable Groups,” in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication
Research Methods, ed. Mike Allen (Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc, 2017), 2-3.
5 “The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015,” United Nations, accessed March 25, 2022,
https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/MDG%202015%20rev%20(July%201).pdf.

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and starvation, and promoting peace and schooling will diminish inequalities and help
economies grow.6 Many historic agreements were acknowledged with the SDG 2030
plan, such as agreements in the Paris Climate Conference and Sendai Framework for
Disaster Risk Reduction. These agreements came out with common standards and
attainable targets to reduce carbon emissions, address the risks of climate change and
natural disasters, and build back better after a crisis in line with the World Agenda 2030.
Furthermore, the meaning of ‘sustainable development’ is to meet the needs of present
generations without compromising the rights of future generations to fulfil their needs. 7
Hence, the concept's underlying value is to thoughtfully use the available sources and
safeguard every prospect in the world for future generations' growth and development.
Therefore, the SDG 2030 is way more than providing platforms for the entire human
population to advance themselves; but maintaining or improving the world's conditions
for generations to come. The Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) in the
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) is currently working
to provide substantive aid or support and capacity-building for the SDGs to realize the
2030 Agenda.8 Some authors believed that children are the central of the whole
sustainable development concept.9 The SDG is a comprehensive plan equipped with 17
goals and 169 targets to support the growth of social, economic and environmental
dimensions of sustainable development for all, including children.
1.2. The Arrival of COVID-19, an Era of Pandemic
The first human cases caused by the novel COVID-19 were declared to World Health
Organization (WHO) in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China on 31st December 2019. The
retrospective examinations by the Chinese officials pinpointed a connection between the
virus, SARS-CoV-2 with a wholesale food market in Wuhan as the origin of the epidemic.
Therefore, on 1st January 2022, the place was instructed to be closed, followed by a
declaration by the WHO thirty days later that COVID-19 was an outbreak of a global health
emergency. COVID-19 was finally verified as a global pandemic in March 2020, the first
pandemic declared since H1N1 influenza after 11 years. Up until April 2022, more than
510 million positive cases were reported, with more than 6.2 million death records
worldwide. Even though various types of vaccinations are already made available
worldwide starting from December 2020, the viral infection persists rising to this date. 10
Many assertive social, economic, and environmental consequences two years after this
pandemic struck the world. For instance, the virus has hindered the world’s financial
6

“The 17 Goals,” United Nations, accessed March 25, 2022, https://sdgs.un.org/goals.
Tom Kuhlman and John Farrington, “What is Sustainability?,” Sustainability 2, no. 11 (2010): 34363448, https://doi.org/10.3390/su2113436.
8
“Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda For Sustainability Development A/RES/70/1,” United
Nations,
accessed
March
25,
2022,
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainabl
e%20Development%20web.pdf.
9
Margaret Chan, “Linking child survival and child development for health, equity, and sustainable
development,” The Lancet 381, no. 9877 (May 2013): 1514-1515.
10 Yen-Chin Liu, et. al., (2020). “COVID-19: The first documented coronavirus pandemic in history,”
Biomedical Journal. 43(4) 328-333. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bj.2020.04.007
7

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activities, contributing to extreme destitution, malnutrition crises, multiple health cases,
and preventing development at both international and national levels. It is assessed that
the number of people who will face starvation will be about 970 million if the trend
persists. Such a significant number exceed the initial anticipation before the raging
pandemic hit the world. COVID-19 is also predicted to have radically boosted the number
of people facing acute food insecurity.11 Subsequently, these predictions lead to one big
question: the world’s ability to achieve the SDGs 2030.
In 2020, there were three billion people unable to afford nutritious diets. With 381 million
malnourished people, Asia countries placed the highest, followed by Africa with 250
million and 48 million for Latin America and the Caribbean. By 2030, Africa is predicted
to be an abode for more than half of the world’s chronically hungry as the crisis
proliferates in that region. The UN had warned that achieving ‘zero hunger’ by 2030 is
scarcely possible as more people go ravenous and malnutrition continues (World Health
Organization, 2020).12 The COVID-19 pandemic intensifies the world food system's
susceptibility and insufficiency, causing the progress towards fulfilling SDG 2 to stall.
Based on the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS), about 25 % of adults in Malaysia
had been recognized to be food insecure, and 20.8 % of households admitted they were
unable to provide for their children due to financial constraints. Besides that, 23.7 % of
children were food insecure and relied on a small number of low-cost foods.13 The World
Food Programme (WFP) predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic would affect 30 % of
Malaysia's population, doubling the number of people facing food shortages in this
country. Generally, such a situation happens for many reasons, such as disruption of the
food supply chain due to the movement control order (MCO) and unnecessary panicbuying, which causes severe market shortage and price skyrocketing. Besides that,
unemployment also leads to a poverty crisis, limited healthcare services due to
overwhelmed health systems in response to COVID-19 daily cases, and many others. In
addition, the zero-hunger goal is also affected due to the pandemic as home quarantine
or lockdown measures will cause changes in lifestyle and dietary habits. The trend of food
consumption, sleep duration, playing outside, or screen time will deviate and need to
adjust to new routines or norms and socio-environment changes. National or
international plans in fulfilling SDG 2 are highly affected, whereby even nongovernmental organizations' original direction had to be modified due to the grave
effects of the pandemic. Budgets or costs for transportation, accommodation other
services have to be brought into the pandemic fund as they require immediate attention,
making the zero-hunger target seem smaller than before. Nevertheless, there are few
challenges in enforcing the 'zero hunger' goal during this pandemic, primarily among
vulnerable children.
11

Chatham
House.
(2020).
Global
Hunger
Index.
Retrived
from
https://www.globalhungerindex.org/pdf/en/2020.pdf
12 World Health Organization, “As more go hungry and malnutrition persists, achieving Zero Hunger
by 2030 in doubt, UN report warns,” WHO, July 13, 2020, https://www.who.int/news/item/13-07-2020-asmore-go-hungry-and-malnutrition-persists-achieving-zero-hunger-by-2030-in-doubt-un-report-warns.
13 Mohamad Hasnan Ahmad, et. al., (2020). “Food Insecurity Situation in Malaysia: Findings from
Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS) 2014,” Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine. 20(1)167174. doi: https://doi.org/10.37268/mjphm/vol.20/no.1/art.553

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2. Method
The paper adopted legal research using a qualitative approach. Legal analysis is finding
the laws or policies that govern certain subject matters. Both primary and secondary data
were collected through library studies and publicly open data, i.e., the internet. Among
others, the related sources are legal statutes at the international and national level,
published or unpublished materials such as journals, reports, statistics, and conference
or seminar papers. All pieces of information are examined critically utilizing the content
analysis method. The analysis of the related law is directly linked to the study of the social
situation to which the law applies.

3. Children Rights to ‘Zero Hunger’
3.1. Children Rights to Food from Legal Perspective
SDG 2 aspires to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote
sustainable agriculture. One of the five targets for SDG 2 is expected to be completed in
2020, while the other four in 2030. Target 2.1 strives to terminate hunger and guarantee
access to safe and adequate nutritious food for everyone, particularly the disadvantaged
or vulnerable groups and infants. Target 2.2 seeks to combat malnutrition problems in
children, adolescent girls, older persons, and pregnant, lactating women. Only two of
these targets remarked the words ‘infants’ and ‘children’ explicitly, while the other
focused on thriving agricultural activities to maintain food production. Sufficient efforts
are needed to ensure the survival of one’s life, specifically the vulnerable groups such as
the poor facing natural catastrophes.14 SDG 2 is one of the most important goals because
extreme hunger and malnutrition remain obstacles to attaining sustainable development.
These two grave difficulties will lead to different health issues, harming life elements such
as economy, health, equality, and others. “Zero hunger” is undoubtedly one of the critical
components to attaining sustainability, as drafted in the SDGs 2030.
From another viewpoint, ‘zero hunger’ is equal to the right to life because both conflicts,
extreme hunger and malnutrition, are among the highest contributing factors to death in
children under the age of five. The number of people affected by hunger had successfully
been reduced from 1011 million people in 1990 to 784 million after 20 years.
Nonetheless, between 2015 and 2020, the world's hunger statistics increased again. 821
million people reported in 2020 to have been suffering from acute hunger, which urgently
needed food and nutrients. Furthermore, it is informed that 3.1 million of the said
number are children worldwide who die due to hunger and malnutrition each year.
In contrast, the other 155 million children suffer from chronic undernourishment (Hunger
Notes).15 Undernutrition, micronutrient-related malnutrition, and overweight conditions
are circumstances that malnourished people face. Malnutrition refers to deficiencies,
excesses, or imbalances in a person’s intake of nutrients. ‘Zero hunger’ goal is most
associated with the first two situations related to inadequate intake of nutritious meals
14

“The 17 Goals,” United Nations, accessed March 25, 2022, https://sdgs.un.org/goals.
“Hunger Notes, World Child Hunger Facts,” World Hunger Education Service, accessed July 1, 2021,
https://www.worldhunger.org/world-child-hunger-facts/.
15

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that cause illnesses known as wasting, stunting, underweight, and deficiencies in vitamins
and minerals. As a result, the quality of one’s life will be affected in terms of mobility,
physical and functional status, emotional balance, low self-esteem, psychological
distress, and discrimination. These circumstances would seriously sabotage children’s
right to life as they could not fully maximise their capacities in different areas and relish
life to their utmost.16
Right to life is the focal idea in human rights protection. Before individuals benefit from
different rights and liberties secured under international documents and national
legislation, physical existence is a requirement. It is the most basic of all rights, and no
derogation is authorised even in times of public crisis. Thereafter, the right to life is
paramount to maintaining all other human rights, especially for self-development. The
international documents that acknowledge these rights are the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights 1948 (UDHR) and the International Convention on Personal and Political
Rights 1966 (ICCPR). Article 3 of UDHR mentioned that human is entitled to the right to
life, liberty, and security.17 Besides that, Article 6 of ICCPR stated that no person should
be arbitrarily deprived of this right to life. It promotes the exact assertion, commenting
that every human being has the inherent right to life and shall be safeguarded by law. 18
The European Convention for Human Rights likewise reaffirms the exact assertion under
Article 2, which states that human life shall be protected by law and not be denied unless
conducting a court’s verdict after convicted of a crime. Furthermore, the CRC also
acknowledge that every child has the inherent right to life.19 There are many other
international documents that mentioned on the right to life. As example:
Article 10 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
“States Parties reaffirm that every human being has the inherent right to life and
shall take all necessary measures to ensure its effective enjoyment by persons with
disabilities on an equal basis with others.”
Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights,
“Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his
life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right.”
Article 28 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families,
…grants migrant workers and members of their families the right to receive any
medical care that is urgently required for the preservation of their life or avoidance
16

Ratana Somrongthong, Donnapa Honthong, Sunanta Wongchalee and Nualnong Wongtongkam,
“The Influence of Chronic Illness and Lifestyle Behaviours on Quality of Life among Older Thais,” BioMed
Research International 2016, no. 1 (2016): 1-8, https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/2525941.
17 “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” United Nations, accessed March 25, 2022,
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/udhr.pdf.
18 “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” United Nations, accessed March 25, 2022,
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/ccpr.pdf
19 “Convention on the Rights of the Child,” United Nations, accessed March 25, 2022,
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/crc.pdf.

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of irreparable harm to their health on the basis of equality of treatment with
nationals of the State concerned. It is important to stress that such emergency
medical care shall not be refused by reason of any irregularity with regard to their
stay or employment.
These international legal documents have explained the significance of the right to life to
be held in the best possible way. It is imperative to ensure that every human being,
including children, can survive life and live with excellent prospects to improve their
lifestyle. The duty to defend the right to life is under the state's responsibilities.20 Among
bodies responsible for guarding human rights are public organisations such as human
rights agencies, welfare centres, community centres, ministries, courts and others.
Besides that, public authorities like security forces must defend the citizens against
unlawful threats made by third parties (Article 2 (2) of ECHR).
The definition of ‘right to life’ has evolved. However, it has an exhaustive interpretation
as the right is said to be inexplicable in a restrictive manner. As a result, homelessness,
infant mortality, and life expectancy problems fall under this scope. For instance, the
Human Rights Committee recommended that every States Parties make all practicable
efforts to eradicate malnutrition and epidemics to improve prenatal care for mothers and
babies and reduce mortality among infants and children. Moreover, the right to life also
incorporates the essence of dignity. ‘Dignity’ implies gaining honour and respect from
others. Living with dignity means to get a respected treatment from other human beings
as a creature of intrinsic, incomparable and indelible worth without any reason attached.
‘Dignity’ is inviolable, and all state authority is under a duty to respect and protect it.
According to Article 1 of the UDHR, all human beings are born free and equal in dignity
and rights.21
Children's rights to life can be separated into protection during the prenatal course and
the capacity to survive and develop properly after birth. Many countries consider that an
unborn child is also a legal person, thus initiating foeticide as a criminal offence. Thus,
since his existence in a womb, an unborn child owns the right to life and should be
protected.22 Additionally, hunger and malnutrition are among the circumstances that can
risk the foetus's life. Maternal malnutrition is a threat that can cause miscarriage, preterm delivery, other health issues and death of a mother or foetus. 23 Secondly, the
children's right to life involves their capability to endure and develop to the highest
degree possible. Such responsibilities are placed under the states (Article 6(2) of CRC). In
summary, survival rights comprise the right to life and other fundamental human needs
like nutritious food, shelter, medicine, health services and security. Development rights
20

“Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” United Nations, accessed March 25, 2022,
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/udhr.pdf.
21 AC Steinmann, “The Core Meaning of Human Dignity,” Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal 19, no.
1 (2016): 1-29, http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2016/v19i0a1244.
22 Vera Lucia Raposo, Catarina Prata and Isabel Ortigao De Olivera, “Human Rights in today’s Ethics:
Human Rights of the Unborn (Embryos and Foetus)?,” Cuadernos constitucionales de la Cátedra Fadrique
Furió Ceriol 62-63, no. 1 (2008): 95-111.
23 Paola Castrogiovanni and Rosa Imbesi, “The Role of Malnutrition during Pregnancy and Its Effects
on Brain and Skeletal Muscle Postnatal Development,” Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology
2, no. 30 (2017): 1-10.

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represent all human rights like education, information, thought, conscience and theology.
Also, the right to life involves protection against child abuse, neglect and exploitation—
lastly, freedom of opinion, associations and assembly, known as participation rights, are
also important.24 Hunger and malnutrition can force children's fundamental rights to be
limited or deprived. Famished and undernourished children face various chronic health
crises that might prevent them from school. Eventually, children will grow up illiterate,
lacking skills and knowledge that will limit their ability to function and cause them to live
in poverty. These unfortunate children will get stuck in the chain of intergenerational
poverty and malnutrition, whereby the situations will get repeated once they grow up
and build a family. The chain of intergenerational poverty and malnutrition will create a
vicious cycle or a lifetime trap if no proper and speedy action is carried out urgently. 25
There were 10.5 million (37.9%) children out of the 27.7 million population in Malaysia in
2008. On the 17th of February 1995, Malaysia ratified the Convention on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) to uphold children's rights. As a member of the CRC, the National Child
Policy of Malaysia needs to be in line with the purpose of the CRC, particularly on the
right to survival, protection, development and participation. Ensuring that every child
gets every possible opportunity to accomplish holistic development in a facilitative
environment is vital. One of the policy's primary purposes is that all parties, including the
community, are oriented toward children's rights to survival, protection, development,
and participation. Thus, a proper strategic plan has been construed to achieve the
objective. For instance, the strategies are to provide necessities like legal identity, shelter,
food and beverages, garments, protection, and a child-friendly atmosphere. In addition,
the Government needs to provide the best environment for the children to live in,
covering all aspects of life. Such efforts will definitely involve many government agencies,
such as the Department of Government Social Welfare Malaysia and the Ministry of
Health Malaysia.26
3.2. Children Rights to Food from Islamic Perspective
In regard to Islamic perspective on food security, there are comprehensive principles
related to food security. The protection of self (nafs) and property (mal) themselves are
categorized under primary objective (dharuriyyat) of the syariah (Maqasid Syariah) that
must be protected. By securing the basic necessities of life, the other objectives of syariah
can be protected and vice-versa. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) said:
“Poverty is almost like rejection of faith (kufr)” and the Prophet also said on another
occasion “There is no asceticism in Islam”. In fact, the Islamic jurists have unanimously
viewed that the society have to take care of the basic needs of the poor and it is collective
obligation (fard kifayah) upon them. There are so many Islamic principles that shows
24

Arne Tostensen, Hugo Stokke, Sven Trygged and Kate Halvorsen, “Supporting Child Rights: Synthesis
of
Lessons
Learned
in
Four
Countries,”
written
January
2011,
https://www.oecd.org/countries/sudan/48350333.pdf.
25 Stuart Gillespie and Rafael Flores, “The Life Cycle of Malnutrition,” accessed July 1, 2022,
https://ebrary.ifpri.org/utils/getfile/collection/p15738coll2/id/125440/filename/125441.pdf.
26 “Dasar Kanak-Kanak Negara,” Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat Malaysia, accessed July 1, 2022,
https://www.jkm.gov.my/jkm/index.php?r=portal/left&id=VEliZUhrbWc2VC9wM3hEVWxTWVVFdz09

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seriousness of Islam to elevate the life of the human beings. First, food is one of the
benchmarks to determine whether someone can be recognized as poor. Al-Ghazali stated
that food and drink for a day are the benchmarks for a person’s ability to fulfill their basic
needs. Thus, food is one of the pertinent components in had kifayah, a basic standard of
living for a person or family. The government through its zakat institution will use Had
kifayah to determine people’s eligibility to get zakat.
Secondly, the practice of obligatory fasting during the Ramadhan turns Muslims to
remember the underprivileged community which facing hunger almost everyday. Besides
experience suppressing appetite during the day, Islam also asks the Muslims to help those
in hunger. All of the good deeds will be rewarded by Allah SWT. Muslims will also not get
the reward from their fasting until they pay zakat fitrah. It is mandatory for Muslims who
live during Ramadhan. According to Syafi’i school, the payment of zakat fitrah that is paid
using staple food signifies how Islam appreciates food security among the society. Islam
also encourages the Muslims to do charity (sadaqah and waqf) to help the poor and also
to achieve a high-income economy. Islamic history has proved that the establishment of
Al-Azhar University in Egypt was sourced from waqaf endowment funds.27
Next point is Islam forbids the practice of israf or exaggerate lifestyle. This can be
observed in the hadith which encourages the Muslims to start eating with the closest
food from them and stop eating before they get full. This teaching nurtures the
appreciation of food availability and avoids food wasting habit. In addition, Islam
emphasizes about the maintainability of food security. Hence, Islam teaches not to cut
down or burn trees carelessly, this applies during the state of peace or war. Fourth, the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) always nurture the feeling of empathy among
the Muslims community. One of the hadith on this topic states that “He is not a believer
whose stomach is filled while his neighbor goes hungry.” Thus, it shows that there is
harmonious importance between one’s faith and the well-being of his neighborhood. The
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) himself is the best role model to always help
other in needs. It was narrated that the Prophet always feeds an old blind guy who lives
in one of the market corners in Madinah gently.
Fifthly, Islam also emphasizes on the role of the government leader to ensure food is
sufficient among the people. The example can be seen in the story of Khalifah Umar. One
night, Khalifah Umar went around the city to see the real condition of his people.
Suddenly, he saw a hut with a burning stove and children crying. He came across to that
hut and asked the mother why the children were crying and what she cooked. The mother
replied that the children are crying due to hunger, and she was cooking water and stone
as she did not have food. She only hoped that the children would fall asleep while waiting
for her cooks. Khalifah Umar immediately went to baitul maal (state treasury) and took
the food for the family. He also helped to cook and ensure that no one feels hungry. 28
27

Randi Swanduru and Priyesta Rizkiningsih, “Emphasizing Zakat and Waqf for Global Zero Hunger,”
written September 26, 2021, https://worldfinancialreview.com/emphasizing-zakat-and-waqf-for-globalzero-hunger/.
28 Randi Swanduru and Priyesta Rizkiningsih, “Emphasizing Zakat and Waqf for Global Zero Hunger,”
written September 26, 2021, https://worldfinancialreview.com/emphasizing-zakat-and-waqf-for-globalzero-hunger/.

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During the era of Khalifah Umar, there was severe drought and famine occurred in the
18th year after the migration. The year is called Ar-Ramadah because the wind blows
dust like ash or Ar-Ramad. This disaster resulted in death until the animals felt the impact.
Umar who felt responsible made various efforts to help his people, including distributing
food from Dar Ad-Daqeeq. Food from the institution that handles the logistical needs of
the community, Umar distributed himself to the community in need. Umar bin Khattab
also prayed for forgiveness and sustenance from Allah SWT, until it finally rained and
ended the disaster.29
To sum up, ‘zero hunger’ certainly is one fundamental right to all human beings, including
children, as SDG 2 is highly associated with the right to life, making it one of the primary
goals in the World Agenda. Right to life is a prerequisite to ensure the success of other
goals of the SDGs 2030. For example, it is only possible for purposes related to quality
education, good health and well-being to be attained if every child is well-nourished, fit
and strong. This is also accordance with Islamic principle that put protection of life as the
second primary objective of syariah after protection of religion. Additionally, the
components drafted in SDG 2 address the need for infants and children. The targets are
to end hunger, ensure sufficient access to safe and nutritious food for the young
generations. The objective is to eradicate malnutrition issues in children under the age of
five that caused stunting and wasting. Clearly, ‘zero hunger’ is a fundamental legal right
for every human, including children. Without accomplishing SDG 2, life survival would be
very challenging and risky, especially among vulnerable children. Recognising the
importance of SDG 2, the world has made various efforts to solve the hunger issue.
However, in 2019 the world hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, causing severe and
widespread increases in global food insecurity, particularly among vulnerable groups.

4. ‘Zero Hunger’ Implementation Challenges
4.1. Economic and Health Aspect
The peak of the world hunger case never indicates abating, and the circumstances worsen
as the COVID-19 pandemic has folded the hunger and malnourished global statistics.
Thus, executing SDG 2 will be a massive challenge to the world before 2030. The most
prominent challenge to accomplishing SDG 2 is the economic facet. From a financial
standpoint, the challenges are the impact of the COVID-19 on the world’s economy.
Besides that, the travel bans and lockdowns had caused many people to suffer from
economic loss. Many people had lost their jobs or primary income, causing the hunger
and malnutrition statistics.
After the COVID-19 pandemic struck, most of the world's economies were largely
impacted causing many countries' revenue to plunge. The paralysis of the financial sector
will force poverty rates to escalate while the number of starving people also rises. It is
informed that the most affected industries are airlines, casinos and gaming, leisure
facilities, automotive, and oil and gas. For instance, many governments worldwide have
started to ban or restrict travelling activities between states pushing the tourism and
29

Ali Muhammad As-Sallabi, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab: His Life and Times (Volume 1), trans. Nasiruddin AlKhattab (Riyadh: International Islamic Publishing House, 2007), 1-543.

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aviation industries to succumb (Neeraj Kumar & Haydon, 2020). 30 Based on a study, the
COVID-19 had removed more than 1 billion air passengers in 2020 and removed about
4.7 billion passengers by the end of 2021. 31 Based on the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development, the number of inbound traveller arrival declined by 74 per cent
in 2020, and some developing countries documented about 80-90 per cent reduction.32
Many airlines companies have to reduce their employees and encounter mergers and
acquisitions or bankruptcies. Air Italy, Flybe (UK), Virgin Australia, German Airways, Thai
Airways, South African Airways, Norwegian Air are among the airlines companies that had
been declared bankrupt.33
The world's financial state is also destroyed due to almost worldwide movement orders
declaration, which is one of the efforts made to quarantine the centre of an outbreak of
the COVID-19.34 On the 23rd of January 2020, Wuhan City, China, was the first place that
had been put under lockdown order, affecting nearly 11 million people in the city. Later,
the lockdown orders were announced in 15 other cities in Hubei Province, China, which
followed the travel restrictions, causing 57 million people to be confined to homes.
Finally, Wuhan's lockdown was lifted after 76 days on the 8th of April 2020.
In response to the pandemic, several states, territories, and cities in Australia were also
instructed to be put under lockdown. The first lockdown was announced in Victoria on
the 23rd of March 2020 and lasted until the 17th of February 2021. Public places in
Australia such as schools, child care centres, retail, and gyms were ordered to close during
lockdowns. There were also other government orders, such as travel distance limitations,
night-time curfew, social distancing, and restrictions on assembling. In addition, wearing
a face mask is compulsory for everyone, and failure to comply will be penalised with a
fine. Besides that, India also called a lockdown order for the whole nationwide starting
for two months from March to May 2020, limiting the movement of its total 1.38 billion
residents. The order imposed was raised by phase and the last one was announced in
December 2020. However, a few states were again declared under partial lockdowns in
April 2021 due to the second wave of COVID-19.
As a method to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus and flatten the curve, the United
Kingdom also took action by commanding lockdowns in England, Wales, Northern Ireland
and Scotland. There are few laws legislated to handle the society's latest norms, namely
30 Danny Haydon and Neeraj Kumar, “Industries Most and Least Impacted by COVID-19 from a
Probability of Default Perspective – September 2020 Update,” last modified Sep 21, 2020,
https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/blog/industries-most-and-leastimpacted-by-covid19-from-a-probability-of-default-perspective-september-2020-update.
31 Airport Council International. “The impact of COVID-19 on the airport business – and the path to
recovery.” Written February 24, 2022. https://aci.aero/2022/02/24/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-theairport-business-and-the-path-to-recovery-4/.
32 “The impact of COVID-19 on the airport business – and the path to recovery,” Airport Council
International, written February 24, 2022, https://aci.aero/2022/02/24/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-theairport-business-and-the-path-to-recovery-4/.
33 Siamak Seyfi, C. Michael Hall and Bardia Shabani, “COVID-19 and international travel restrictions:
the
geopolitics
of
health
and
tourism,”
Tourism
Geographies
(2020),
https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1833972.
34 Barbara von Tigerstrom and Kumanan Wilson, “COVID-19 travel restrictions and the International
Health Regulations (2005),” BMJ Global Health 5, no. 5 (2020).

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the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020, the Health
Protection (Coronavirus, restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020, Health Protection
(Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 and Coronavirus
(Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020. These legal documents generally composed all non-essential
premises to close down. Furthermore, authorities were endowed with enforcement
officers to issue penalties, forbid gatherings, regulate new norms, keep the infected one
in quarantine, assure the curfew period is obeyed, and restrain individual's movement.
Malaysia has introduced four types of lockdowns, namely, the Movement Control Order
(MCO), Extended Movement Control Order (EMCO), Conditional Movement Control
Order (CMCO) and Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO).35 These lockdowns were
meant to balance the importance of the citizens’ health and attempt to recuperate the
country’s financial condition. There are disparities in each lockdown, whereby some rules
were lifted while some were getting more rigid. Many more governments carried out this
effort to hinder the spread of the COVID-19, such as Indonesia, Russia, Singapore, the
United States, and others. Other than that, states passed various statutes to administer
their nationals in this critical period.
Those legislating regulations have highly influenced the world economy. The
repercussions of the situation are- (i) lack of demand for intermediate goods and services;
(ii) labour and capital remaining unused; and (iii) adverse upstream effects on many other
sectors. The most detrimental effect is the economic mayhem for employers and
employees directly involved in the industry. The business owners of the affected private
sectors had to downsize or close down their companies, while their workers had to
encounter monetary disputes when their wages were slashed, or their services were
terminated. Furthermore, enterprises like manufacturing, retailing, transportation and
others are indirectly beset by the pandemic. As the COVID-19 prolonged for nearly two
years, every country’s regime must engage in a tug-of-war between an individual’s health
and the economy’s health. Even though human health becomes the primary concern,
many individuals financially suffer and it leads them to poverty and hunger. The
vulnerable groups especially must face a more devastating economic impact than the
virus effect itself. Unemployment is estimated to stay tall even behind 2021, which will
highly influence groups like youngsters, females, low-paid employees, part-timers, and
temporary and self-employed people.36 In such circumstances, the world is far from
achieving the promise made under SDG 2. The pandemic has harshly impacted the world
economy, pushing millions of people to lose of livelihood. Moreover, many families can
continue their daily life, let alone vulnerable children. Many people have lost their food
supply due to the government’s financial strike and quarantine directives.37

35

“Restriction of Movement Order,” Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia, last modified March 16, 2020,
https://www.pmo.gov.my/2020/03/movement-control-order/.
36 “Changing the Odds for Vulnerable Children: Building Opportunities and Resilience,” OECDiLibrary,
accessed
July
3,
2021,
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/23101e74en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/23101e74-en.
37 “Food
Security and COVID-19,” The World Bank, accessed July 1, 2021,
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/agriculture/brief/food-security-and-covid-19.

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Hasanuddin Law Rev. 8(2): 139-159

As mentioned in the previous discussion, Malaysia is facing a hard time in fulfilling SDG 2,
as the country also had to deal with the economic recession. Besides movement control
order (MCO), lockdown instruction, quarantine order, and other measures instructed by
the Government, the country’s economic activity were slowed down due to business
closure, employer layoff, deducted salary or delayed wages payment. The Malaysian
authority had come out with many initiatives in aiding the affected groups, especially
those in vulnerable situations such as poor people, disabled or sick people and children.
Among others, the Government has implemented many plans such as a bank loan
moratorium for vehicle or housing financing, COVID-19 special financial assistance
schemes (i.e. i-citra, i-lestari, i-sinar and many others), special education loan assistance,
free internet access, income loss aid for a healthy person and disabled people, insurance
and takaful contributions, job seekers assistance and many more.38
4.2. Social Challenges
There are several challenges to executing the 'zero hunger' goal based on social aspects.
Firstly, the COVID-19 has caused disorder in a few countries' internal or external affairs.
Political turmoils, riots, street protests, and social-media forces have disrupted the
government's governance and lost focus on achieving SDG 2. Henceforth, the nation
appears to carry different emerging conflicts that ought to be settled instantly rather than
prioritising the vulnerable people whose interest has been overlooked for a long time,
especially during the pandemic.
For instance, the nationals of the Philippines have signed a few entreaties calling for the
resignation of President Rodrigo Duterte to stop him from gaining emergency authority
due to the COVID-19 situation. Duterte has transgressed the residents' privileges because
of his charge to kill, slow reaction to the COVID-19 circumstances, dictatorship and
puppetry. In addition, the battle between the former President of the United States,
Donald Trump, with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director, Dr
Anthony Stephen Fauci, confused the citizens of the States as both of them constantly
dissent on COVID-19 safety measures or protocols. It is obvious evidence that Trump's
government fell in public health response as in his last year of presidency, more than
450,000 casualties due to the virus. Life expectancy rate also hit the most significant
decline by 1.13 years since World War II. Such failure to react to economic crises
accordingly has also ushered the nation into the financial fallout.39 In 2020, Joseph
Robbinete Biden Jr. had replaced Trump after winning the presidential election amid the
pandemic.40
38

“Special Report: Malaysia’s COVID-19 Financial Support Packages – A Case of Prudent Cash Flow
Restructuring and Not Excessive Cash Handouts that Have to be Paid by Future Generations,” Department
of
Statistics
Malaysia,
Official
Portal,
accessed
August
8,
2022,
https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/uploads/files/5_Gallery/2_Media/4_Stats%40media/1_General%20News/
2021/7%20Julai/12%20Julai%20-%20General%201.pdf
39 The Straits Times, “Ex-US president Trump rages at COVID-19 experts who criticized him,” The Straits
Times, March 30, 2021, https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/ex-us-president-trump-ragesat-covid-19-experts-who-criticised-him.
40 “US foreign policy after the 2020 Presidential election: Issues for the European Union,” European
Parliament, accessed July 1, 2022, https://bit.ly/3zF8qnu.

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Several government heads or officers had stepped down from their leadership function,
such as Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic, after receiving grave condemnation of his
general handling of the pandemic and judgment to purchase the 'Sputnik V', COVID-19's
vaccination of Russia. Besides that, the prime minister of Mongolia, Khurelsukh Ukhnaan
and his whole cabinet had quit after citizens' protests against his government's COVID-19
control measures. Similarly, the Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte also left his
management post after the pandemic killed more than 85,000 residents and drove the
most catastrophic economic collapse in decades. In addition, there were also numerous
states' health ministers who resigned due to bad handling of the COVID-19 situation like
Ecuador, Austria, Argentina, Peru, New Zealand, Brazil, the Czech Republic and many
others.
Further, there were also condemning episodes towards China from several governments,
such as the United States of America and India. China was alleged to have caused massive
human and financial flop due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic was highly
politicised and even directed to the idea of dragging China to the International Court of
Justice or International Criminal Court. However, in response to such allegations, China
accused Australia, New Zealand and India as responsible countries to have caused the
pandemic.41 The accusations against China went further as several hypotheses believe
that COVID-19 virus is a form of biological weapon.42 It has directed towards disputes
between nations whereby the pandemic raised insecurities sentiments, tension and
apprehension during the critical moment of facing the rampant pandemic. The world is
too desperate to discover a key to this crisis and discuss it, pushing the goals drafted in
the 2030 Sustainable Development plan, including ‘zero hunger’, to be overlooked.
Consequently, the necessities of powerless, vulnerable crowds cannot be prioritised;
undoubtedly, everyone becomes vulnerable nowadays due to the spread of the COVID19 pandemic.
The pandemic had caused immense upheavals in humanitarian relief works as there were
reductions in economic and human capital due to the pandemic. Firstly, humanitarian
relief works became more complex to be carried out as the lockdown orders, travel
limitations and other new norms were declared.43 As a result, multiple aid distribution
bases have to shut down, ditching these vulnerable groups without a place to rely on. In
addition, the number of volunteers had to be downsized to concede to the new
procedures once it was confirmed to be an airborne-transmitted virus. Such a situation
affects the distribution as the virus will stay in the air for a long time, travel along air
currents or be inhaled by a person.44 Airborne transmission indicates that the spread of
41

Abbas Poorhashemi, “Can China Be Sued under International Law for COVID-19?,” Jurist, May 21,
2020, https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2020/05/abbas-poorhashemi-lawsuits-china-covid19/.
42 Regan F Lyon, “The COVID-19 Response Has Uncovered and Increased Our Vulnerability to Biological
Warfare,” Military Medicine 186, no. 7-8 (2021):193-196, https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usab061.
43 Weijun Yu and Jessica Keralis, “Controlling COVID-19: The Folly of International Travel Restrictions,”
Health and Human Rights Journal, April 6, 2020, https://www.hhrjournal.org/2020/04/controlling-covid19-the-folly-of-international-travel-restrictions/.
44 Trisha Greenhalgh, Jose L. Jimenez, Kimberly A. Prather, Zeynep Tufekci, David Fisman and Robert
Scooley, “Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2,” The Lancet 397, no.
10285 (May 2021): 1603-1605, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00869-2.

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the infectious agent commences with the dissemination of tiny respiratory droplets.
Someone may get infected if exposed to the coughing, sneezing or talking of the COVID19 positive patient. Therefore, quarantine is good to curb this pandemic's spread other
than wearing face masks or social distancing.
The most complex consequence is the cut-down and reallocation of budgets or funds
from the primary humanitarian works in order to deal with the pandemic. Furthermore,
the COVID-19 had outranked other critical health demands as many humanitarian bodies
had to shift the tasks, they operated toward combating the COVID-19.45 For instance,
childhood vaccination schedules and education-based projects were postponed to
prioritise COVID-19’s relief works. It is assessed that since the pandemic period, there
were 117 million children have missed their measles vaccinations. 46 It is stressed that
extreme emphasis on the COVID-19 assistance will force the necessities of other
vulnerable groups to continue to be disregarded. The vulnerable people are the weakest
in their powers to meet any challenge, especially the pandemic. Therefore, assistance
and subsidy from the other residents are vital for their survival. Most of them do not have
insufficient or essential needs such as meals, shelter, garments, medication and many
others. As vulnerable children are part of a generation that will determine the world’s
future, the community at large must provide additional attention and care for them.
The research completed by the Child Frontiers and the Malaysian Association of Social
Workers for UNICEF Malaysia in 2021 showed that the pandemic has resulted in multiple
socioeconomic consequences that led to disruptions to nearly all facets of life in Malaysia.
For example, the vulnerable groups such as urban poor, indigenous societies, and migrant
and refugee communities became weaker with the control movement orders. The
ongoing pandemic has aggravated the food insecurity dilemma for the most
impoverished societies and disclosed the digital divide between 'well-resourced' and lowincome households. It becomes apparent as society shifts to digital solutions to sustain
children's education, learning and play. One of the outcomes is that the children from
low-income families, migrant and refugee communities were left behind in their studies
because of the lockdown. They have economic limitations concerning access to the
internet or lacking of gadgets such as smartphones, laptops or tablets during the
implementation of the MCO.
Another difficulty faced was that the families were required to determine between using
their limited savings to purchase essential food items or reloading their phone credit to
get internet access. These youths will end up leaving school, and in the long term, they
will have inherent social and economic inequalities in their families. In the future, poverty
will cause food insecurity among children. As for refugees, their main issue is a dire need
for money to provide food for their children. Many of them lost their jobs overnight, as
they did not have official contract-based employment. They lived from ‘paycheque to pay
cheque’ during pre-pandemic times, and most had no savings. Some were risked of
45

“The Hunger Virus: How COVID-19 is Fuelling Hunger in a Hungry World,” OXFAM, written July 9,
2020, https://bit.ly/3A9EBgk.
46 “More than 117 million children at risk of missing out on measles vaccines, as COVID-19 surges,”
UNICEF, written April 13, 2020, https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/more-117-million-children-riskmissing-out-measles-vaccines-covid-19-surges.

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homelessness if they could not settle rent fees. At the same time, some households were
not only ousted because of their incapacity to pay rent but reportedly due to their
nationality status, for example, refugees.
Similarly, some indigenous households in Sarawak, one of the states in Malaysia are
known to have sold or lost their land, and the younger generation is now hired by logging
or palm oil companies. The reason may be due to the need for food supply. Indigenous
villagers in Sarawak reportedly could not purchase the food in town due to the high price,
causing them to depend on the jungle for food for months. There are many vast land
clearing for oil palm plantations in the jungle, and some companies do not allow local
community members to use or move through the plantations. It constructed critical
challenges for indigenous communities facing food shortages. Lastly, the local markets
were shut when there were few actual cases of Covid-19 in the remote areas. Their
situation worsens when the tourism sector collapses, where indigenous groups are often
employed in hotels or tour guides. These will lead to currency and nutrition shortages
that need to be overcome by the Government and all other relevant parties. 47
Furthermore, the news also stressed the three cases of child marriage during the MCO
period. The causes are economic pressure encountered by parents, school closures and
interruptions in services. In some circumstances, child marriage becomes a resort to
prolong the household's survival rate. Even though the number of cases is viewed as
minority cases, a state should legally handle this issue to ensure there are no children
who will encounter food insecurity due to the incapability of finding a job. In April 2022,
the death rate due to Covid-19 in Malaysia is more than 35 000 adults. If an adult in
Malaysia has one child, the number of orphans is more than 35 000 orphans. A report
states that 4600 orphans have been identified in Malaysia. An estimated 1.13 million
children had lost one guardian or both worldwide in one investigation. The loss of either
mother or father can influence the children's lives as they lose the direction and love of
one of their guardians. Besides that, they will also lose those who equip them with
sustenance. Thus, it will become a significant challenge for the government and
communities to ensure the welfare of orphans. The Ministry of Women, Family and
Community Development of Malaysia has promised to supply 36 children’s institutions
reserved for orphans who have lost their parents and do not have any kin if no family
comes forward to take care of them.
Confinement at home, family pressure, and financial flops are among the challenges
parents suffer, which later lead children and young people in the same households to feel
unhappy, negatively impacting their mental health. Some reported cases showed that
there were parents who became depressed as they could not provide for the well-being
of their children. As a result, underprivileged youths will face more risk of domestic
violence. The Love Line has recorded an increase in calls due to abuse and family conflict
in the community, reaching more than 3000 calls a day. However, it is more prominent
within indigenous, poor and refugee communities. It may also force the parents to

47

“Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on Vulnerable Children & Families in Malaysia,” UNICEF,
written November 2020, https://www.unicef.org/malaysia/reports/understanding-impact-covid-19vulnerable-children-families-malaysia.

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abandon the children's 155 including their food resources. Thus, the government must
make an immediate effort to ensure the children’s interests. 48
From the social viewpoint, the COVID 19 has caused different internal and external state
conflicts' causing SDG 2's aim to stay out of focus. Instead of staying united in fighting the
pandemic or fulfilling the pledge made by the world in 2015, many states were blaming
each other. Furthermore, the challenge lies in cutting human capital and the budget for
humanitarian works other than the COVID-19 relief act. As a result, many vulnerable
children are abandoned worldwide and still in misery as the basic need of life, such as
food, is insufficient. In addition, from a health standpoint, aid to the vulnerable children
was also cut as the imposition of quarantine and lockdown orders declared by the state
authority to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

5. Conclusion
'Zero Hunger' is a fundamental human right in human life at all moments. Without
properly executing such rights, other rights will be impacted and cannot be enjoyed as it
is connected to one's life and health. The UDHR and the ICCPR are international legal
documents that guarantee rights to life. While for children, the acknowledgement of
human rights is put under the CRC. The CRC even extends the survival right to a good
quality of life and the opportunity to develop one's life and participate. The CRC
accentuated that these rights are only achievable if SDG 2 is fulfilled. Hence, SDG 2 is
featured as one objective in the World Agenda to achieve by 2030. The SDG 2030 had
explicitly mentioned the vulnerable as the most critical target group to focus on. Thus,
the SDG 2030 came up with the motto, 'no one is left behind,' ensuring their survival in
real life. However, after the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019
causing, the progress in realizing the 'zero hunger' goal is decelerated and about to be
defeated. These few challenges in executing the goal from the economic, social and
health aspects that arose due to COVID-19 had impacted the SDG 2030's achievement,
including SDG 2. Nevertheless, every state must maintain all efforts in fulfilling SDG 2's
objectives as it is crucial for vulnerable children's survival. Consequently, food assistance
and humanitarian relief must be provided to them. Other than that, prompt measures to
ensure food supply chains also need to be maintained as the pandemic has caused a
massive impact on food and agricultural production.

Acknowledgements
The paper is supported by Geran Kompetetif Fakulti Undang-Undang, Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia (UU-2021-006).

48

“More than 117 million children at risk of missing out on measles vaccines, as COVID-19 surges,”
UNICEF, written April 13, 2020, https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/more-117-million-children-riskmissing-out-measles-vaccines-covid-19-surges.

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