The World Meals Program, a United Nations company, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, with the committee recognizing its efforts to fight a surge in starvation because the coronavirus pandemic has swept around the globe with devastating influence.
The committee famous that the group’s work addressing starvation had additionally laid the foundations for peace in war-torn nations.
The United Nations physique — the biggest humanitarian group addressing starvation and selling meals safety internationally — final yr supplied help to just about a million folks in 88 international locations. However in lots of international locations, significantly these wracked by struggle, the mix of battle and the pandemic has sharply elevated the numbers of individuals on the point of hunger.
“Within the face of the pandemic, the World Meals Program has demonstrated a powerful means to accentuate its efforts,” the Nobel committee mentioned.
The World Meals Program, established in 1961 after a proposal by President Dwight Eisenhower, has been a serious behind-the-scenes participant serving to folks affected by a few of the world’s most devastating humanitarian disasters, together with famine in Ethiopia within the 1980s, wars in Yugoslavia within the 1990s, the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
The 2020 Nobel Prizes
Up to date Oct. 9, 2020
Whereas the group nonetheless responds to pure disasters, serving to folks in areas of armed battle occupies the majority of its reduction effort, and people crises have been made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.
The selection of a United Nations company because the Peace Prize recipient can also be important amid a continued pullback from america below the Trump administration in its assist for the worldwide physique. Since Mr. Trump took up workplace, america has withdrawn from a number of United Nations our bodies and slashed funding for others, together with these concerned in humanitarian reduction work. President Trump halted funded to the World Well being Group, a U.N. company that coordinates the worldwide response to the pandemic, this spring.
In a put up on Twitter, the World Meals Program responded to the award, calling it a “highly effective reminder” that peace and #ZeroHunger go hand-in-hand.”
Who gained 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 finally led to a gradual normalizing of relations and the tip of years of struggle between the 2 international locations.
He was additionally acknowledged for his work ushering in a brand new period of diplomatic and commerce relations. By the tip of the yr, nonetheless, Mr. Abiy confronted accusations of a heavy-handed crackdown on political protests in his nation and skipped a information convention after his acceptance speech amid the controversy.
Who’re this yr’s different Nobel Prize winners?
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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medication, introduced on Monday in Sweden, was given to 3 scientists for his or her work discovering the hepatitis C virus. Learn extra concerning the winners, Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice.
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The Nobel Prize in Physics, introduced on Tuesday in Sweden, was awarded half to Roger Penrose for exhibiting how black holes might kind and half to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for locating a supermassive object on the Milky Means’s heart. Learn extra concerning the winners.
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The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was introduced on Wednesday in Sweden. Learn extra concerning the winners, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna, who developed the Crispr device, which might change the DNA of animals, crops and microorganisms with excessive precision.
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The Nobel Prizes in Literature was introduced on Thursday in Sweden. Learn concerning the winner, Louise Glück, certainly one of America’s most celebrated poets.
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The Nobel Memorial Prize in Financial Science will likely be introduced on Monday in Sweden. Examine final yr’s winners, Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer.