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“Many wars, climate change and widespread famine as a political or military weapon, as well as a global health pandemic, have made the situation exponentially worse. people are going to starve, ”said WFP Director David Beasley.
“If their needs are not met, a pandemic will ensue that will try to outshine COVID-19,” said Beasley, removing the protective mask from WFP headquarters in Rome.
The UN Agency, the largest humanitarian organization fighting hunger, was established in 1961. Its efforts feed tens of millions of people around the world each year, up from 97 million last year.
If their needs are not met, a pandemic will ensue that will try to outshine COVID-19, Beasley said.
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the World Food Program for its efforts “to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairman of the Nobel Committee, on October 9, announcing the award winner.
With nationalist tendencies around the world, the WFP “demonstrates the international cooperation and commitment that the world desperately needs today,” Reiss-Andersen said at an unusually empty Nobel Institute on Thursday.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Nobel Prize organizers had to abandon traditional award ceremonies both in Oslo, where Nobel Peace Prize winners are announced and presented, and in Stockholm, where prizes for achievements in medicine are awarded. , physics, chemistry, literature and economics.
Reuters / Photo by Scanpix / World Food Program
Organizers had to cancel banquets and solemn award ceremonies, which often attract large numbers of celebrities and tiara-adorned members of royal families. They have been replaced by more modest events, mainly online.
As a result, the Nobel Medal and the World Food Program Diploma were sent to Rome by diplomatic post.
Call to action
“This Nobel Peace Prize is more than a thank you. It is a call to action,” Bealey said.
“Hunger is on the threshold of humanity,” he said, adding that “food is the way to peace.”
In recent weeks, a UN agency has warned of the dangers of famine in Burkina Faso, South Sudan, northeastern Nigeria and Yemen.
The unprecedented food situation in Yemen is expected to worsen due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lack of funding.
“We are at perhaps the most ironic moment in the history of our time,” said Bealey.
“On the one hand, after a century of massive efforts to overcome poverty, today 270 million. our neighbors are on the brink of starvation, he said. – On the other hand, today our world has accumulated $ 400 billion in assets. Even during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in just 90 days, assets rose another $ 2.7 trillion. Well, we only need 5 billion. dollars to save 30 million from hunger. lives. “
The Nobel Prize ceremony was also canceled in Stockholm. A ceremony without spectators will take place later on Thursday at the Swedish capital’s city hall. It will be broadcast live and will include an award-winning concert and videos.
“We are all facing serious obstacles as a result of this pandemic,” Lars Heikensten, director of the Nobel Foundation, said Thursday.
“We are reminded of the importance of international cooperation to face humanitarian crises and that, with the help of science, we can find solutions to the challenges we face,” he added.
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