Children Rights to ‘Zero Hunger’ and the Execution Challenges during the COVID-19 Crisis

: ‘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 thi s 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 reco mmends 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.


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, 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 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.

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 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 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.

Chatham
House.

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.

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 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 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 represent all human rights like education, information, thought, conscience and theology. Also, the right to life involves protection against child abuse, neglect and exploitationlastly, 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

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 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 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.

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 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  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.
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

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 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. 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 COVID-19 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 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 COVID-19 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. 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 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.

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.