World Food Programme wins Nobel Peace Prize 2020

The Nobel Peace Prize 2020 Friday was awarded to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its efforts to combat hunger and food insecurity around the globe. The announcement was made in Oslo by Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Nobel Committee.

“With this year’s award, the (Committee) wishes to turn the eyes of the world to the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger,” Andersen was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

“The World Food Program plays a key role in multilateral cooperation in making food security an instrument of peace. It contributes daily to advancing the fraternity of nations mentioned in Alfred Nobel’s will,” she said.

Reacting to the announcement, a UN WFP spokesperson said that it was a “proud moment” and “nothing short of a feat”.

The World Food Programme is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security. WFP’s efforts focus on emergency assistance, relief and rehabilitation, development aid, and special operations.

Along with enormous prestige, the prize comes with a 10-million krona ($1.1 million) cash award and a gold medal to be handed out at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway, on December 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel’s death.

There were 318 candidates, 211 individuals, and 107 organisations nominated this year for the coveted prize. While the Norwegian Nobel Committee maintains absolute secrecy about whom it favors for arguably the world’s most prestigious prize, that has never stopped speculation ahead of the announcement.

Amongst those speculated to be nominated included US President Donald Trump, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, and the World Health Organization.

The deadline for this year’s nominations was February 1, which means that those on the front lines of fighting Covid-19 — which was only declared a pandemic in March — were unlikely to be contenders.