World Food Programme wins Nobel Peace Prize

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the winner of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. It was awarded the prize by the Nobel Committee in Norway on Friday. The Nobel judges spoke about why they gave the award to the WFP. They said the WFP got the award, "for its efforts to combat hunger" and "for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas". They said another reason was that the WFP acted, "as a driving force to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict". The WFP tweeted: "We are deeply humbled to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This is an incredible recognition of the dedication of the WFP family, working to end hunger every day in 80-plus countries."

The World Food Programme is the largest humanitarian organization in the world. Last year, it gave help to more than 97 million people in 88 countries. Its workers and volunteers often work in extremely dangerous conditions. These can be in remote, hard-to-access areas of the world. Over two-thirds of its work is in conflict-affected countries. People in war zones are three times more likely to be undernourished than those in countries without conflict. The COVID-19 pandemic has added to global food insecurity. The WFP said: "There will likely be 265 million starving people within a year." The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, called the WFP "the world's first responder on the frontlines of food insecurity".