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The Nobel Peace Prize Committee can offer different highlights in their awards. You can, for example, let lesser-known activists appear in front of the curtain in the world, honor their work and thus also give them some protection, as happened in 2018 with the Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad awards, those of the Congo and Iraq against sexual . Fight against violence. The committee can elevate political stars to whom it gives good credit, as was the case with Barack Obama, for whom this award has always been a burden. Or it can refer to connections, suggest what the roots of peace are.
In this year’s award, the Norwegian judges chose the latter. The World Food Program (WFP) will be honored in 2020. It is awarded for its fight against hunger in the world. With its work, the UN organization is helping to improve conditions of peace in conflict regions, the committee justified its decision on Friday in Oslo. The Nobel Peace Prize is endowed with around $ 1.1 million and will be awarded on December 10, the anniversary of the death of the founder, Alfred Nobel.
“You do not listen to need and misery”
WFP has been “proud” of the award and has expressed “deep appreciation” to the Nobel Committee for the honor. Wiener Zeitung, spokeswoman Bettina Lüscher, told the Wiener Zeitung shortly after the award was announced: “We now have high hopes that much more attention will be paid to the 690 million people around the world who do not know where their next meal. ” These people often don’t have a microphone, you can’t hear their need and their misery. “
WFP Executive Director David Beasley emphasized that the Nobel Prize belongs not only to the United Nations organization, but also to all partners and supporters who use WFP to combat hunger.
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We are deeply honored 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 more than 80 countries.
Thank you @Nobel Prize for this incredible honor! pic.twitter.com/bHcS0usWQa
?? David Beasley (@WFPChief) October 9, 2020
According to its own information, WFP supports around 97 million people in around 88 countries each year. Missions range from rapid emergency relief in drought and war zones to school meals and the provision of logistics for other relief organizations.
And Beasley returned to the heart of the Nobel Prize. “Where there is conflict, there is hunger. And where people are hungry, there is often conflict.”
In fact, this connection is difficult to rule out. While hunger can rarely be said to trigger armed conflict, shortages of food and supplies can exacerbate and fuel conflict.
Hunger is used as a weapon in wars
In Syria, for example, there were severe periods of drought in the years leading up to the civil war that broke out in 2011. The fields were fallow, herds of cattle died. About 1.5 million people moved to the impoverished suburbs and competed for housing and food. The researchers do not rule out that, in addition to religious and political conflicts, it was precisely this worsening of the social situation that triggered the war.
When war breaks out, hunger often goes hand in hand with it. The fields can no longer be cultivated, farmers are fleeing. Nothing plays in favor of the warlords and the militias anymore. If there is no possibility of getting by with the armed organizations and perhaps with a meal, the young people flock. And time and again, warlords and unscrupulous politicians try to drive out entire population groups or even starve them to death.
“Hunger is always a weapon in wars,” says Lüscher. Over and over again it happens that the WFP food convoys are blocked, he reports and emphasizes that it is also important to name the warmongers and pillory them. “We are often the only ones with our partners from other aid organizations who are still keeping people alive,” says Lüscher. “Food aid is also a means of avoiding conflict.”
According to the Nobel Prize Committee, this is especially true now in the Corona crisis. The committee emphasized that the fight against hunger in the world is necessary, especially in times of pandemic.
The election of the Nobel Prize Committee received much international recognition. WFP is “a worthy winner,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. WFP works “at the interface” between world hunger and violent conflict, said the renowned Swedish institute for peace research Sipri.
Austria congratulates, but not a big donor
The Austrian government is also among the congratulations. The World Food Program is “irreplaceable” in providing food to people in need and is therefore saving “millions of lives,” said Agriculture Minister Elisabeth Köstinger.
Petra Bayr, SPÖ spokesperson for global development, applauded the “really important work” of WFP. At the same time, he criticized Austria’s “shamefully” low contribution to WFP. In 2019, Austria contributed US $ 4.8 million. In the current year, the government transferred 2.3 million in early October. Austria lags far behind comparable countries such as Sweden (156 million) or Switzerland (73 million US dollars).
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