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The World Food Program (WFP) won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger and improve peace conditions in conflict zones.
The chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, revealed the 2020 winner at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, where restrictions on the coronavirus drastically reduced the usual crowd of journalists in attendance.
Reiss-Andersen said the committee presented the award to WFP because it wanted to “turn the eyes of the world to the millions of people who suffer or face the threat of hunger.” Hunger, he said, was used as a “weapon of war and conflict.”
The award was also a call on the international community to adequately fund the UN agency and ensure that people do not starve, he said. He said WFP would have been a worthy recipient of the award without the coronavirus pandemic. But the virus had reinforced the reasons for giving it to WFP, including the need for “multilateralism” in a time of global crisis.
“It is a very important UN organization. The UN plays a key role in defending human rights, “he said, adding:” Food is one of our most basic needs. “
In its citation, the committee commended WFP for its “efforts to combat hunger” and its “contribution to creating peace in conflict-affected areas.” The agency acted “as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict,” he said.
WFP responded tweeting your thanks, adding: “This is a powerful reminder to the world that peace and #Zero hunger go hand in hand. “
This year, it was learned that 318 nominees, 211 individuals and 107 organizations were being considered.
Other figures considered in the race for this year’s award were 17-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Russian dissident and opposition leader Alexei Navalny, recovering from a nerve agent attack that blames the Russian president. , Vladimir Putin, and the World Health Organization for their role in treating the coronavirus pandemic.
US President Donald Trump has said he should have won last year’s peace prize, which went to Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed after he forged a peace deal with Eritrea.
Trump has been nominated for the 2021 award, the White House says, for negotiating a deal that resulted in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalizing relations with Israel.
Reiss-Andersen, who arrived at the Oslo City Hall ceremony on crutches, did not mention Trump. But he said the “universalism” of the UN and its work for human rights everywhere was in contrast to the “populism” and “nationalist politics” that prevail in some countries.
Since 1901, one hundred Nobel Peace Prizes have been awarded to individuals and 24 organizations. While the other Nobel laureates are announced in Stockholm, the peace prize is awarded in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.
Along with enormous prestige, the award comes with a cash prize of 10 million kronor (£ 870,000) and a gold medal to be presented at a ceremony in Oslo on 10 December, the anniversary of the award’s founder’s death, Alfred Nobel. This year’s ceremony will be shortened due to the pandemic.
Nominations can be made by a select group, including national legislators, heads of state, and certain international institutions.
On Monday, the Nobel committee awarded the physiology and medicine prize for discovering the hepatitis C virus that devastates the liver. Tuesday’s physics award honored advances in understanding the mysteries of cosmic black holes, and Wednesday’s chemistry award went to the scientists behind a powerful gene-editing tool. The literature prize was awarded to American poet Louise Glück on Thursday for her “sincere and uncompromising” work.
The award for outstanding work in economics is yet to come next week.
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