World Food Programme chief 'deeply humbled' by Nobel win, calls it 'incredible recognition' of WFP family

OSLO: The United Nations World Food Programme is "deeply humbled" by the announcement it had won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Executive Director David Beasley said on Friday.

"This is an incredible recognition of the dedication of the WFP family, working to end hunger everyday in 80+ countries," he wrote on Twitter. "This is the first time in my life I have been speechless," said Beasley in a 30-second Twitter video.



The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation addressing hunger and promoting food security. In 2019, the WFP provided assistance to close to 100 million people in 88 countries who are victims of acute food insecurity and hunger.

In 2015, eradicating hunger was adopted as one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The WFP is the UN’s primary instrument for realising this goal. In recent years, the situation has taken a negative turn. In 2019, 135 million people suffered from acute hunger, the highest number in many years. Most of the increase was caused by war and armed conflict.

“The World Food Programme contributes daily to advancing the fraternity of nations referred to in Alfred Nobel’s will. As the UN’s largest specialised agency, WFP is a modern version of the peace congresses that the Nobel Peace Prize is intended to promote,” the Nobel Prize Twitter handle posted.