The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the United Nations‘ World Food Programme as the recipient of its coveted Peace Prize on Friday for its “efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war”.
“For its effort to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as the driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict,” announced the Nobel Prize Committee on Twitter.
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 UN Agency was established at the “behest of former US President Dwight Eisenhower” in 1961 as an experiment to provide food aid through the UN system.
The WFP’s first test came in September 1962 after an earthquake in northern Iran killed more than 12,00 people.
Later, in 1963, the agency launched its first development program in Sudan and in 1965 it was included as a “fully-fledged UN program” withing the agency to last “as long as multilateral food aid is found feasible and desirable”.
Today, the WFP is the “world’s largest humanitarian agency” which springs into action when during disasters and works “tirelessly to bolster nutrition and food security”.
Taking to Twitter, WFP thanked the Nobel Committee for “honoring” it with the prize, adding that it is a “powerful reminder to the world that peace and zero hunger go hand-in-hand”.
Deepest thanks @NobelPrize for honouring the World Food Programme with the 2020 #NobelPeacePrize.
This is a powerful reminder to the world that peace and #ZeroHunger go hand-in-hand. https://t.co/1CYXPcnvlF
— World Food Programme (@WFP) October 9, 2020
The Nobel Committee, in a statement, said that it “wishes to turn the eyes of the world towards the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger” by awarding the agency with the prize.
“The organization contributes daily to advancing the fraternity of nations referred to in Alfred Nobel’s will. As the UN’s largest specialized agency, the World Food Programme is a modern version of the peace congresses that the Nobel Peace Prize is intended to promote,” said the committee in a statement.
The Nobel prize — which consists of a gold medal, a diploma, and a cheque for 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.1 million, 950,000 euros) — will be presented to the winners on December 10 — the anniversary of the 1896 death of Swedish industrialist and philanthropist Alfred Nobel, who created the awards in his will.
Depending on the coronavirus restrictions in place at the time, it will either be awarded in-person at a scaled-back ceremony in Oslo or remotely in an online ceremony.