OSLO, Norway — The United Nations' World Food Program has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat global hunger and to improve conditions for peace in conflict areas.
Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel committee, announced the prize Friday at the Nobel Institute in Oslo.
Reiss-Andersen said the committee named the WFP the 2020 laureate because it wanted to “turn the eyes of the world to the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger,” which she called a “weapon of war and conflict,” The Guardian reported.
She also used the award as a call-to-action for the international community to adequately fund the UN agency.
“It’s a very important UN organization. The UN plays a key role in upholding human rights,” she said, calling food “one of our most basic needs.”
And while Reiss-Andersen acknowledged that the WFP was deserving of the honor prior to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the global health crisis only amplified the committee’s selection criteria, especially the need for “multilateralism” in a time of global crisis, The Guardian reported.
This year’s peace prize was the 101st to be awarded, with 318 candidates in the running for the 2020 prize, according to the Nobel Institute.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the prize in 2019 for his efforts to achieve peace with neighboring Eritrea, CNBC reported.
Other 2020 nominees included Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, 17, as well as the World Health Organization for its role in addressing the coronavirus pandemic and Russian dissident and opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is recovering from a nerve agent attack he blames on Russian President Vladimir Putin, The Guardian reported.
Click here or watch below to see the announcement.
Read about the other 2020 Nobel laureates below:
Auction theory, practical applications take 2020 Nobel Prize in economics
American poet Louise Glück awarded 2020 Nobel Prize in literature
‘Rewriting the code of life’: Researchers behind gene-editing tool win 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry
Groundbreaking black hole research takes 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics
Hepatitis C virus discovery takes Nobel Prize in medicine for 2020