This year's Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the UN World Food Programme at a ceremony in Rome.
ADVERTISEMENTThe 2020 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP).
The presentation was made at a ceremony in Rome, Italy, where the medal and diploma was handed to David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme.
Accepting the award, he said "we believe food is the pathway to peace".
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the prize to the UN programme "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 prize is considered by many to be the world’s most prestigious prize.
The WFP estimates its action helps around 97 million individuals each in 88 countries.
In his acceptance speechBeasley said the prize was a "call to action."
"Today we have a crisis on our hands. This Nobel Peace Prize is more than a thank you. It is a call to action.
"Because of so many wars, climate change, the widespread use of hunger as a political and military weapon, and a global health pandemic that makes all of that exponentially worse, 270 million people are marching towards starvation.
"Failure to address their needs will cause a hunger pandemic which will dwarf the impact of COVID."
Last year, Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed took home the award for helping to end a two-decade conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.
He has since ordered his country's military to confront the regional government of Tigray, and the fighting has become a concern internationally.