2020 Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to U.N. World Food Program

2020 Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to U.N. World Food Program The agency was awarded the prize for providing food assistance to millions around the world, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic. Food aid from the World Food Program in Beirut last month, in the wake of an explosion in the city’s port in August that killed about 200 people and injured thousands of others. Food aid from the World Food Program in Beirut last month, in the wake of an explosion in the city’s port in August that killed about 200 people and injured thousands of others.Credit...Haytham Al Achkar/Getty Images Megan Specia By Megan Specia Oct. 9, 2020 Updated 6:28 a.m. ET 3 The World Food Program, a United Nations agency, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, with the committee recognizing its efforts to combat a surge in hunger as the coronavirus pandemic has swept around the world with devastating impact. The committee noted that the organization’s work addressing hunger had also laid the foundations for peace in war-torn nations. The United Nations body — the largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security internationally — last year provided assistance to nearly one million people in 88 countries. But in many countries, particularly those wracked by war, the combination of conflict and the pandemic has sharply increased the numbers of people on the brink of starvation. “In the face of the pandemic, the World Food Program has demonstrated an impressive ability to intensify its efforts,” the Nobel committee said. ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story The World Food Program, established in 1961 after a proposal by President Dwight Eisenhower, has been a major behind-the-scenes player helping people affected by some of the world’s most devastating humanitarian disasters, including famine in Ethiopia in the 1980s, wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The 2020 Nobel Prizes Updated Oct. 9, 2020 See all of the 2020 winners here. Drs. Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice received the prize for medicine for their discovery of the hepatitis C virus. Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez received the physics prize for their discoveries that have improved understanding of the universe, including work on black holes. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna were awarded the chemistry prize for their work on genome editing. The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Louise Glück, the American poet. This year’s Peace Prize was awarded to the U.N.’s World Food Program. While the organization still responds to natural disasters, helping people in areas of armed conflict occupies the bulk of its relief effort, and those crises have been made worse by the coronavirus pandemic. Unlock more free articles. Create an account or log in The choice of a United Nations agency as the Peace Prize recipient is also significant amid a continued pullback from the United States under the Trump administration in its support for the global body. Since Mr. Trump took up office, the United States has withdrawn from several United Nations bodies and slashed funding for others, including those involved in humanitarian relief work. President Trump halted funded to the World Health Organization, a U.N. agency that coordinates the global response to the pandemic, this spring. In a post on Twitter, the World Food Program responded to the award, calling it a “powerful reminder” that peace and #ZeroHunger go hand-in-hand.” Editors’ Picks Is Air a Scam? ‘I Was Unprepared’: Louise Glück on Poetry, Aging and a Surprise Nobel Prize What Does Retirement Look Like in a Pandemic? Continue reading the main story Who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize? Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia was awarded the 2019 prize for his work restarting peace talks with neighboring Eritrea that eventually led to a gradual normalizing of relations and the end of years of war between the two countries. ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story He was also recognized for his work ushering in a new era of diplomatic and trade relations. By the end of the year, however, Mr. Abiy faced accusations of a heavy-handed crackdown on political protests in his country and skipped a news conference after his acceptance speech amid the controversy. Who are this year’s other Nobel Prize winners? The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, announced on Monday in Sweden, was given to three scientists for their work discovering the hepatitis C virus. Read more about the winners, Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice. The Nobel Prize in Physics, announced on Tuesday in Sweden, was awarded half to Roger Penrose for showing how black holes could form and half to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for discovering a supermassive object at the Milky Way’s center. Read more about the winners. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced on Wednesday in Sweden. Read more about the winners, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna, who developed the Crispr tool, which can change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with high precision. The Nobel Prizes in Literature was announced on Thursday in Sweden. Read about the winner, Louise Glück, one of America’s most celebrated poets. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science will be announced on Monday in Sweden. Read about last year’s winners, Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer. Michael Schwirtz contributed reporting.