Sunny Li ‘22
The Norwegian Nobel Committee presented the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct 9, 2020, not to any individuals, but to the World Food Programme (WFP). The WFP has been awarded 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.”
The World Food Programme is a branch under the United Nations, dedicated to food-assistance. It is the world’s largest humanitarians organization focused on hunger and food security. Its main purpose is to accomplish one of the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development set by 2030: Goal 2, Zero Hunger, which “pledges to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.” The WFP’s work can be divided into two main parts—delivering food assistance in emergent situations and working with communities to improve nutrition and to build resilience. In 2019, the WFP estimated 690 million people ending the day with an empty stomach and 135 million people suffering from acute insecurity, a number unprecedentedly high in the last few years. In 2019 alone, the WFP has helped 97 million people from 88 countries.
The lack of food and nutrition ties directly to armed conflict. As the Norwegian Nobel Committee saw it, conflicts create food insecurity, and hunger instigates conflicts and triggers the use of violence. The two form a vicious circle that cannot be addressed unless one problem is first resolved. Regarding food security and peace, the WFP has done pioneering work in relatively unstable areas in South America, Africa, and Asia. Yemen would be a good case to look at. The country has suffered from long-time instability due to the conflicts between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and a Saudi-Arabian military backing the Yemen government. Over 20 million Yemenis face food insecurity, and more than one million women and two million children require treatment for acute malnutrition. Facing such severe humanitarian crises, the WFP has done a great job in both food assistance and cash assistance. It has provided “13 million people with monthly food assistance through direct food distributions or vouchers that people can use at retailers.” At the same time, people received cash transfers equivalent to US$12 per person per month from the WFP so that the economy could function properly. Although instability remains a major problem in the region, ameliorating food insecurity is a good starting point. Without the assistance of WFP in these situations, we can only imagine armed conflicts escalating the region.
There is still a long way to go to achieve the ultimate goal of eliminating hunger. Certainly, no single organization can end such a challenging difficulty; the world needs help from and cooperation of different organizations, governments, and even individuals. The World Food Programme serves as a role model for its outstanding work in providing food assistance and improving the situations in many areas around the globe. Its work is pioneering, impactful, and multilateral, and consequently, it embodies the exact characteristics that the Nobel Peace Prize looks for.