New Delhi (NVI): The Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 has been awarded to UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) for its efforts to combat hunger.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the WFP had acted “as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict”.
World Food Programme has fed millions of people from Yemen to North Korea, with the coronavirus pandemic seen pushing millions more into hunger.
BREAKING NEWS:
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize to the World Food Programme (WFP).#NobelPrize #NobelPeacePrize pic.twitter.com/fjnKfXjE3E— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 9, 2020
The WFP, founded in 1961, estimates it helps about 97 million people a year, in 88 countries.
The WFP was honoured for “its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict,” Nobel committee chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said on unveiling the winner in Oslo.
“With this year’s award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to turn the eyes of the world towards the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger,” Reiss-Andersen said.
There were 318 candidates — 211 individuals and 107 organisations — for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, which is the fourth largest number in the history of the prize.
The prestigious Nobel award comes with a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor (over $1,118,000), courtesy of a bequest left 124 years ago by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.
-CHK
