This week in New Delhi, the Nobel Committee awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize to the World Food Program (WFP), a United Nations agency, for its work to combat hunger. In both 2016 and 2019 I personally witnessed the WPF providing the essential food provisions for Syrians refugees who had fled from ISIS to Kurdistan, northern Iraq. WPF is also active in Afghanistan – tackling hunger in a way that contributes to peace, South Sudan – where civil conflict and collapsing economy fuel famine, and conflict-torn Yemen – where today’s WFP’s emergency response is largest in the world.
In announcing the award, The Nobel Committee lauded the WFP “for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.” In her address, Nobel Chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen described the Committee’s intention to “turn the eyes of the world to the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger.”
The Syrians refugees who I met, and aid workers at their sides, would heartily agree!