The United Nation's World Food Program (WFP) has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2020. The announcement was made on the 9th of October and was awarded as a result of the organisation being:
"A driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict".
David Beasley, head of the World Food Program reacted with joy and disbelief to the announcement, saying:
"This is unbelievable. Talk about the most exciting point in time in your life. It's because of the WFP family. They're out there in the most difficult complex places in the world, where there's war, conflict, climate extremes. It doesn't matter. They're out there and they deserve this award."
The World Food Program's primary goal is to deliver food around the world to those that need it the most, thereby saving lives from starvation and stopping the long-term consequences of malnutrition.
Within the last year, it is thought they have delivered food to around 100 million of the world's most desperate people in 88 nations. The organisation was established by United States President Dwight Eisenhower in 1961.
Among the areas in which they were most active were Yemen, which is facing starvation due to an ongoing civil war, Afghanistan, and South Sudan.
The organisation added on Twitter:
"This is in recognition of the work of WFP staff who put their lives on the line every day to bring food and assistance to more than 100 million hungry children, women and men across the world."
Nobel Prize Committee Chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen laid out the reasoning behind the organisation's choice of winner. She said that the committee hoped the award would play a part in bringing the world's attention to the ongoing prevalence of hunger. She added:
"The World Food Programme plays a key role in multilateral co-operation in making food security an instrument of peace. The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to a strong upsurge in the number of victims of hunger in the world. In the face of the pandemic, the World Food Programme has demonstrated an impressive ability to intensify its efforts."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that between 80 and 130 million more people will experience hunger as a result of the CoVid-19 pandemic, reversing decades of progress in eliminating both hunger and malnutrition. It will be up to governments and the likes of the World Food Program to ensure that these numbers can be improved as quickly as possible.
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