UNWorld Food Program wins Nobel Peace Prize
NIAMEY, Niger — The World Food Program won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its efforts to combat hunger in regions facing conflict and hardship at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has driven millions more people to the brink of starvation.
The Rome-based United Nations agency has long specialized in getting assistance to some of the world’s most dangerous and precarious places, from air-dropping food in South Sudan and Syria to creating an emergency delivery service that kept aid flowing even as pandemic restrictions grounded commercial flights.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it wished “to turn the eyes of the world towards the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger.”
The committee also said it hopes the prize will highlight the need to strengthen global solidarity and cooperation in an era of go-italone nationalism.
“We are sending a signal to every nation who raises objections to international cooperation,” committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen said shortly after the award was announced. “We are sending a signal to this type of nationalism where the responsibility for global affairs is not being faced.”
The award comes as President Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of several U.N. bodies, including the Human Rights Council and UNESCO, the cultural agency. He has also repeatedly criticized the U.N.’s World Health Organization over its handling of the pandemic, and his administration has said the United States will leave it next July.
In light of that, the choice of the World Food Program was particularly notable because the U.S. remains by far its biggest donor. The agency has been run by an American for nearly 40 years, and its current head — who was nominated by Trump’s administration — has been a rare recent example of U.S.-led internationalism.
David Beasley, WFP’s executive director, said the award rightly goes to his entire team.
“I know I’m not deserving of an award like this — but all the men and women around the world in the World Food Program and our partners who put their lives on the line every day to help those in need, that is inspiring and encouraging,” a giddy Beasley said from Niger.
WFP staffers in Niger greeted Beasley with cheers and applause as he emerged to address a crowd after the announcement. “I didn’t win it, you won it,” he told them.
The Nobel Committee said that the problem of hunger has again become more acute in recent years, not least because the pandemic has added to the hardship already faced by millions around theworld.
In total, WFP estimates that 690 million people suffer some form of hunger in theworld today.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was delighted the award went to “the world’s first responder on the frontlines of food insecurity.” It was the ninth award for the U.N. or one of its agencies.
“In aworld of plenty, it is unconscionable that hundreds of millions go to bed each night hungry,” Guterres said. “Millions more are now on the precipice of famine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Nobel Committee called on governments to ensure that WFP and other aid organizations receive the financial support necessary to feed millions in countries such as Yemen, Congo, Nigeria and South Sudan.
A logistics juggernaut, WFP this year created a global emergency delivery service for humanitarian aid. Officials said the unprecedented effort involved nearly 130 countries and was key in ensuring that aid for the pandemic kept flowing in addition to other assistance, like the drugs and vaccines needed to combat other diseases.
Therewas no shortage of causes or candidates on this year’s list, with 211 individuals and 107 organizations nominated ahead of the Feb. 1 deadline.