The World Food Programme aims to improve food security and nutrition around the world. In a world where enough food is produced to feed everyone, around 690 million people still go to bed on an empty stomach every night. Research in 2019 found that 135 million people in 55 countries around the world were still being affected by acute food insecurity.
The United Nations pledged in 2015 to achieve 17 sustainable development goals by 2030. Goal two was zero hunger which aims to end hunger, achieve food security and promote sustainable agriculture.
On any given day the World Food Programme has 5,600 trucks, 30 ships and nearly 100 planes delivering food and other assistance to those who need help.
The World Food Programme was awarded the 2020 Noble Peace Prize “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.”
Previous winners of the Noble Peace Prize include the European Union (2012), Nelson Mandela (1993) and Martin Luther King Jr. (1964).