UN World Food Program wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

VOX

The World Food Program, a United Nations initiative aimed at reducing hunger and food insecurity around the world, was awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The prize committee praised the WFP’s work to “prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.” [Smithsonian Magazine / Nora McGreevy] The program, based in Rome, provides meals to people living in dangerous areas, air-dropping food to South Sudan and Syria during recent conflicts there. It was created in 1961 at the urging of US President Dwight Eisenhower. [AP / Dalatou Mamane, Frank Jordans, and Vanessa Gera] Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Nobel Committee, said the WFP demonstrated an ability to strengthen its efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic. The program is headed by David Beasley, a former Republican governor of South Carolina nominated for his current role by President Trump. [NBC News / Adela Suliman] In the last decade, the WFP has been instrumental in delivering aid to vulnerable communities in Yemen, where roughly 3 million people are facing starvation due to Covid-19. The program has reached the majority of vulnerable people in the country, even in remote areas. [Washington Post / Chico Harlan and Michael Birnbaum] The WFP is currently active in 83 countries, and the US is by far its biggest donor. Although the Trump administration has pulled out of several UN programs, the US has not pulled funding from the WFP. More than 40 percent of the WFP’s receipts in 2020 have come from the US. [NPR / Mark Katkov and Bill Chappell]