Srinagar: The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2020.
A statement by the Norwegian Nobel Committee said that the WFP had been awarded the prestigious prize for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.
The WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation addressing hunger and promoting food security. In 2019, the WFP provided assistance to close to 100 million people in 88 countries who are victims of acute food insecurity and hunger. In 2015, eradicating hunger was adopted as one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The WFP is the UN’s primary instrument for realising this goal.
While thanking the Nobel Committee for the award, the WFP said in a statement on Twitter that the award was a “powerful reminder to the world that peace and Zero Hunger go hand-in-hand”.

Reader correspondent