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Berit Reiss-Andersen addressed the pandemic and the ongoing food crisis prevailing in many countries, most often due to violence and conflict.
– The combination of the corona pandemic and conflict has increased food shortages. Until we have a vaccine, food is the best medicine, he says.
“The need for international solidarity and multilateral cooperation is more evident than ever. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize to the UN Food Program, for its efforts to combat hunger, for its work to improving conditions of peace in conflict areas and for being a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon in war and conflict, ”the Norwegian Nobel Committee writes in their motivation.
https://twitter.com/WFP/status/1314495961771716608
Berit Reiss-Andersen says that food is often used as a weapon in conflict, where, for example, crops are razed and burned, increasing hunger for an already hungry population. She emphasizes that working to increase the security of the food supply not only counteracts hunger, but can also improve prospects for peace.
“The UN Food Program has taken a leadership role by combining humanitarian work and peace efforts in projects in South America, Africa and Asia,” the committee wrote.
Food from the UN Food Program is distributed to those in need in Sanaa, Yemen, 2019.
Photo: Xinhua
This year’s work on the Nobel Committee It has been marked by the corona pandemic, which in turn has contributed to a sharp increase in the number of world hunger victims. In countries such as Yemen, Congo-Kinshasa, Nigeria, South Sudan and Burkina Faso, the combination of armed conflict and the pandemic has led to a dramatic increase in the number of people living on the brink of starvation.
In 2019, 135 million people suffered from acute hunger and the situation has worsened.
– It is the highest number in many years and is mainly due to war and armed conflict, says Berit Reiss-Andersen.
The choice of this year’s peace prize It was unexpected, but it was positively received.
– Of course, it is very funny that another UN body receives the award and is motivated by the fight against hunger, says the press secretary of the Swedish UN Federation, Pekka Johansson.
– Surprising but indisputable, says Peter Wallensteen, professor of peace and conflict research at Uppsala University, that the UN feeding program has received the Nobel Peace Prize from TT.
Neither does Berit Reiss-Andersen He could see that the election of the Nobel Committee might provoke some outrage.
– How provocative would a humanitarian organization that helps people improve? He says.
The UN WFP Food Program was founded in 1961 at the initiative of George McGovern, the man who lost to Nixon in the 1972 US presidential election, and has board members from 36 UN member states.
The current head of the WFP is the American David Beasley, former governor of South Carolina and member of parliament first for the Democrats, then for the Republicans, where he is still a member. WFP currently operates in more than 80 countries, of which almost one in ten is in a state of emergency.
The favorites were many before the announcement of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. When the Nobel Committee began its work this year, there were 318 candidates on the table. 107 of them were organizations, 211 were people, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
The Peace Prize is one of the most prestigious in the world and the media coverage is excellent.
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