The UN World Food Program has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize

The United Nations agency, the World Food Program, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, with the committee recognizing efforts to combat an increase in hunger as a coronavirus epidemic. Has turned the world upside down with devastating effects.

The committee noted that the work of the organization addressing hunger also laid the foundation for peace in war-torn countries.

The United Nations Body – the world’s largest humanitarian organization fighting hunger and promoting food security – provided aid to nearly 10 million people in 88 countries last year. But in many countries, especially war-torn, there is a mixture of conflict and epidemics The number of people on the brink of starvation increased rapidly.

“In the face of the epidemic, the World Food Program has demonstrated an impressive ability to intensify its efforts,” the Nobel Committee said.

The World Food Program, established in 1961 after President Dwight Eisenhower’s proposal, is a major behind-the-scenes player in helping people affected by the world’s most devastating humanitarian catastrophes, including the famine in Ethiopia in the 1980s and the war in Yugoslavia. 1990s, 2004 Asian Tsunami and 2010 Haiti Earthquake.

While the organization is still responding to natural disasters, it is doing most of its relief efforts to help people in areas of armed conflict, and that crisis has been exacerbated by the coronavirus epidemic.

The selection of the UN agency as the recipient of the Peace Prize is also significant amid continued tensions from the United States under the Trump administration in support of the global organization. Since Mr. Trump took office, the United States has withdrawn from a number of United Nations organizations and reduced funding for others, including those involved in humanitarian relief work. President Trump provided funding to the World Health Organization, the UN agency coordinating the global response to the epidemic. This spring.

In a post on Twitter, the World Food Program responded to the award, calling it a “powerful reminder” that peace and #ZeroHunger go together. “

Who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize?

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abi Ahmed He was awarded the 2019 prize for his work in resuming peace talks with neighboring Eritrea, which eventually led to the gradual normalization of relations and the end of years of war between the two countries.

He was also recognized for his work in entering a new era of diplomatic and trade relations. By the end of the year, however, Mr Abi faced allegations of heavy-handed crackdown on political protests in his country and then left a news conference. His acceptance speech Amidst controversy.

Who is the other Nobel laureate this year?

• The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, announced on Monday in Sweden, was given to three scientists for their work in discovering the hepatitis C virus. Read more about the winners, Harvey J. Terter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice.

• The Nobel Prize in Physics, announced on Tuesday in Sweden, was given half the award to show how black holes could be, and half the award to Reinhard Ganzel and Andrea Gage for discovering a supermassive object object in the center of the galaxy. Read more about the winners.

• The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced in Sweden on Wednesday. Read more about the winners, Emanuel Charpitier and Jennifer A. Daudna, Who have created the Crisper tool, which can alter the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with high precision.

• The Nobel Prizes in Literature were announced in Sweden on Thursday. Read about the winner, Lewis Glock, one of America’s most famous poets.

• The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced in Sweden on Monday. Read about Last year’s winners, Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kramer.

Michael Schwartz Contributed report.