Nobel Peace Prize 2020: World Food Programme awarded for efforts to combat global hunger

The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to World Food Programme for "its efforts to combat hunger" and for its contribution to "bettering conditions".

The WFP, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its announcement on October 9, has been awarded the coveted prize for "its effort to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict".

"The World Food Programme contributes daily to advancing the fraternity of nations referred to in Alfred Nobel’s will. As the UN’s largest specialised agency, World Food Programme is a modern version of the peace congresses that the Nobel Peace Prize is intended to promote," the Nobel Committee said in a statement.

"The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation addressing hunger and promoting food security. In 2019, the WFP provided assistance to close to 100 million people in 88 countries who are victims of acute food insecurity and hunger. In 2015, eradicating hunger was adopted as one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The WFP is the UN’s primary instrument for realising this goal," the statement said.

"In recent years, the situation has taken a negative turn. In 2019, 135 million people suffered from acute hunger, the highest number in many years. Most of the increase was caused by war and armed conflict... 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," the statement added.

"The World Food Programme plays a key role in multilateral cooperation on making food security an instrument of peace, and has made a strong contribution towards mobilising UN Member States to combat the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict," the Nobel Committee's statement said.

The prize is awarded by a committee elected by Stortinget, the Norwegian Parliament.

Winners among other categories this year are Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea M. Ghez for Physics; Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for Chemistry; Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice for Physiology or Medicine; and Louise Glück for Literature. The prize for Economics will be announced on October 12.