The 2023 Near East and North Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition comes at a critical juncture as several shocks have hit the region in recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. In 2022, international and domestic food and fertilizer prices hit record highs. Moreover, extreme weather events and droughts reduced yields in several wheat-producer countries in the region. The Overview provides an update on the progress made in the Arab States towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 targets related to hunger, food security and nutrition, as well as the progress made towards the 2025 global nutrition targets set by the World Health Assembly (WHA). In 2022, hunger in Arab countries reached its highest value since the year 2000. The number of undernourished people was 59.8 million in 2022, 75.9 percent higher than in 2000. This corresponded to 12.9 percent of the population, well above the world average of 9.2 percent. Moderate or severe food insecurity affected 170.1 million people, 36.6 percent of the population, and 61.0 million people suffered from severe food insecurity, which is a concerning increase of 3.8 million people from the previous year. Conflict, climate change, economic slowdowns and social unrest are the major drivers of food insecurity in the region. Furthermore, high-income inequality and poverty magnify the negative impact of these drivers. Over two-thirds of the undernourished people in Arab countries were from conflict-hit countries, and almost half of the hungry people live in LDCs. Somalia, Yemen, and the Syrian Arab Republic are suffering the most from hunger. International commodity prices reached a record level in March 2022 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The region depends heavily on imported foodstuffs, and many countries rely on imported staples from the Black Sea region. In addition, droughts in the region decreased yields in many countries, further increasing the import requirements of the region. Limited land and water endowments and a rapidly growing population put an additional burden on regional agrifood systems. These challenges have made the region highly vulnerable to international commodity markets, including supply side and price shocks. High international food prices have increased food import bills, put pressure on foreign exchange rates, and generated high domestic food inflation eroding purchasing power and leading to a cost of living crisis, especially for the most vulnerable population as they spend a larger part of their income on food.