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Noble cause awarded peace prize - 14th October 2020

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been bestowed upon the World Food Programme in praise of its efforts to alleviate suffering, which serve to reduce conflict around the globe.

Nobel chair, Berit Reiss Anderson, sketched out the committee’s reasoning for conferring the award.

"The Norwegian Nobel committee wishes to emphasize that providing assistance to increase food security not only prevents hunger but can also help to improve prospects for stability and peace."

Operating entirely on governmental and private donations since its inception in 1961, the WFP is the food assistance arm of the UN. It provided relief to 97 million across 88 countries last year, distributing 15 billion daily rations.

Determined to ensure food aid reaches its destination, WFP cargo is even carried by donkey, as well as aboard ships and emergency airlifts. Its estimate that almost 10 per cent of the world’s population suffers chronically from hunger sketches a dismal reality. The food crisis will have deepened further owing to the pandemic, which, as Reiss Anderson attests, galvanised the Nobel committee in their choice of recipient.

Reiss Anderson: "But the pandemic, and the challenges raised by the pandemic, definitely strengthens the reasons for the prize."