World Food Program wins 2020 Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO, REUTERS: The United Nations food agency, the World Food Program (WFP), won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its efforts to combat hunger and improve conditions for peace in areas affected by conflict.

The Rome-based organisation says it helps some 97 million people in about 88 countries each year, and that one in nine people worldwide still do not have enough to eat.

“The need for international solidarity and multilateral cooperation is more conspicuous than ever,” Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen told a news conference.

The WFP is a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict, with the COVID-19 outbreak further boosting its relevance, she said.

“The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to a strong upsurge in the number of victims of hunger in the world,” the Nobel committee said in its citation.

“Until the day we have a medical vaccine, food is the best vaccine against chaos ...

“There is an estimate within the World Food Program that... there will be 265 million starving people within a year, so of course this is also a call to the international community not to underfund the World Food Program.” The World Food Program said this was “a proud moment ... nothing short of a feat”.

The prize is worth SEK 10 million, or around $1.1 million, and will be presented in Oslo on 10 December.