The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the World Food Programme on Friday for feeding millions of people from Yemen to North Korea, with the coronavirus pandemic pushing millions more into hunger.
The WFP was “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.
“This is a powerful reminder to the world that peace and #ZeroHunger go hand-in-hand,” the Rome-based organization said on Twitter.
Founded in 1961, the UN body helped 97 million people last year, distributing 15 billion rations to people in 88 countries.
Whether delivering food by helicopter or on the back of an elephant or a camel, the WFP prides itself on being “the leading humanitarian organization” in a world where, by its own estimates, some 690 million people – one in 11 – go to bed on an empty stomach.
“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.
“The link between hunger and armed conflict is a vicious circle: war and conflict can cause food insecurity and hunger, just as hunger and food insecurity can cause latent conflicts to flare up and trigger the use of violence. We will never achieve the goal of zero hunger unless we also put an end to war and armed conflict.”
WFP executive director David Beasley said the agency was “deeply humbled” by winning the prize, adding it had rendered him “speechless.”
In Central African Republic – the worst country for food insecurity according to the WFP – agency spokesman Vigno Hounkanli said the prize was a “recognition for all the work the WFP does in the most difficult crises.”
“Our teams go to remote areas sometimes risking their lives… colleagues have left their lives because they want to save others,” Hounkanli said, adding: “It’s not office work, it’s on the ground, concretely.”
Despite making progress over the past three decades, the UN’s goal to eradicate hunger by 2030 appears out of reach if current trends continue, according to experts.
Women and children are generally most at risk.
War can be caused by hunger, but hunger is also a consequence of war, with people living in areas of conflict three times more likely to be undernourished than those living in countries at peace, the WFP says.
“There’s no two ways about it – we can’t end hunger unless we put an end to conflict,” Beasley said in September.
Yemen, which is living through what the UN has described as the “largest humanitarian crisis in the world,” is a stark example.
Both the UN and aid agencies have repeatedly raised the alarm over the disastrous consequences of the conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced three million and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
Two-thirds of Yemen’s 30 million people do not know where their next meal will come from, WFP figures show.
The outlook for the world has grown bleaker this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to earnings losses, made food more expensive and disrupted supply chains.
“The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to a strong upsurge in the number of victims of hunger in the world,” the Nobel committee said.
“In countries such as Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan and Burkina Faso, the combination of violent conflict and the pandemic has led to a dramatic rise in the number of people living on the brink of starvation.”
The award consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a check for 10 million Swedish kronor (950,000 euros, $1.1 million).