The United Nations’ World Food Program has won the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger and food insecurity around the globe. The announcement was made Friday in Oslo by the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. From air-dropping food in South Sudan to creating an emergency delivery service to keep aid flowing despite coronavirus travel restrictions, the Rome-based organization has long specialized in getting assistance to some of the world’s most dangerous and precarious places. It provided assistance to almost 100 million people in 88 countries last year. The organization’s head said the entire team deserved the award.
World Food Program wheat is unloaded from a U.S Navy MH-53E helicopter during a rescue and aid mission by the U.S Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) August 17, 2010 in Khawazakhela , Upper Swat, Pakistan. The U.S. military has been taking part in the recovery efforts during the devastating Pakistan floods since August 4, that has carried 215 metric tons of relief supplies from the World Food Program (WFP) to the Swat region, a region that has been cut off when bridges were washed away during flash flooding.
According to the U.S. military, they have evacuated 3,571 people from Kalam in Upper Swat. The country’s agricultural heartland has been devastated, with rice, corn and wheat crops destroyed by floods. Officials say as many as 20 million people have been effected during Pakistan’s worst flooding in 80 years. The army and aid organizations are struggling to cope with the scope of the wide spread scale of the disaster that has killed over 1,600 people and displaced millions. The UN has described the disaster as unprecedented, with over a third of the country under water.
Originally published by KDWN