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Lecture by the Chair of the Nobel Committee Berit Reiss-Andersen about The Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali.

Abiy Ahmed Ali receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea. The prize is also meant to recognise all the stakeholders working for peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and in the East and Northeast African regions.

When period poverty has become an accepted term – we've got a problem

Malala and her uniform 

On 24 October 1945, the UN Charter was officially signed and ratified, and the United Nations came into being. Since 1948, 24 October has been celebrated as United Nations Day, and this year will be special, as the organization turns 75. The Covid-19 pandemic makes physical gatherings and large celebrations impossible, but the anniversary will nevertheless be visible across the world.

In Europe, official buildings, museums and monuments will be lit up in UN blue on Saturday. The UN Regional Information Centre for Western Europe has initiated the campaign to “Turn Europe UN Blue” in a symbolic effort to promote the universal language of peace, sustainable development and human rights.

Thursday 22 October the anniversary was marked with a digital concert and dance show, Prerecorded at La Scala Theater in Malan, screened in the General Assembly Hall and distributed digitally across the world. The show featured international stars and contained dances curated specifically for the UN Day Concert. According to the UN, the performance was meant to “leverage the power of music and dance to capture our collective commitment to cooperation, multilateralism and global solidarity”.

75 years for peace

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2020

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 is awarded to the World Food Programme (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.

The need for international solidarity and multilateral cooperation is more conspicuous than ever. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 to the World Food Programme (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.

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 coronavirus pandemic has contributed to a strong upsurge in the number of victims of hunger in the world. In countries such as Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan and Burkina Faso, the combination of violent conflict and the pandemic has led to a dramatic rise in the number of people living on the brink of starvation. In the face of the pandemic, the World Food Programme has demonstrated an impressive ability to intensify its efforts. As the organisation itself has stated, “Until the day we have a medical vaccine, food is the best vaccine against chaos.”

The world is in danger of experiencing a hunger crisis of inconceivable proportions if the World Food Programme and other food assistance organisations do not receive the financial support they have requested.

The link between hunger and armed conflict is a vicious circle: war and conflict can cause food insecurity and hunger, just as hunger and food insecurity can cause latent conflicts to flare up and trigger the use of violence. We will never achieve the goal of zero hunger unless we also put an end to war and armed conflict.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to emphasise that providing assistance to increase food security not only prevents hunger, but can also help to improve prospects for stability and peace. The World Food Programme has taken the lead in combining humanitarian work with peace efforts through pioneering projects in South America, Africa and Asia.

The World Food Programme was an active participant in the diplomatic process that culminated in May 2018 in the UN Security Council’s unanimous adoption of Resolution 2417, which for the first time explicitly addressed the link between conflict and hunger. The Security Council also underscored UN Member States’ obligation to help ensure that food assistance reaches those in need, and condemned the use of starvation as a method of warfare.

With this year’s award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to turn the eyes of the world towards the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger. The World Food Programme plays a key role in multilateral cooperation on making food security an instrument of peace, and has made a strong contribution towards mobilising UN Member States to combat the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict. The organisation contributes daily to advancing the fraternity of nations referred to in Alfred Nobel’s will. As the UN’s largest specialised agency, the World Food Programme is a modern version of the peace congresses that the Nobel Peace Prize is intended to promote.

The work of the World Food Programme to the benefit of humankind is an endeavour that all the nations of the world should be able to endorse and support.

First published by the Norwegian Nobel Institute

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2020

75 years for peace

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 - Announcement

WHAT´S ON

Crossroads Ethiopia

PERMANENT EXHIBITIONS

The Nobel Mystery

UN marks 75 years

Lecture about the Nobel Peace Prize 2019

When period poverty has become an accepted term – we've got a problem

Malala and her uniform

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