Free Republic

The Nobel Committee announced Friday morning that the 2020 Peace Prize was awarded to the World Food Program, a United Nations agency, for its efforts during the pandemic to combat global hunger, laying the foundations for peace in war-torn countries. “In the face of the pandemic, the World Food Program has demonstrated an impressive ability to intensify its efforts,” Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said in Oslo while announcing the prize. “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."...

The head of the U.N. food agency warned Tuesday that, as the world is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, it is also “on the brink of a hunger pandemic” that could lead to “multiple famines of biblical proportions” within a few months if immediate action isn’t taken. World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley told the U.N. Security Council that even before COVID-19 became an issue, he was telling world leaders that “2020 would be facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.” That’s because of wars in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere, locust swarms in Africa, frequent natural disasters...

Somali hijackers to release ship, hostages -WFP Sat Aug 6, 2005 By Andrew Cawthorne NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somali pirates who have held 10 hostages for more than a month on a ship chartered by the U.N. World Food Programme to carry food aid have agreed to release the vessel and free the crew, the WFP said on Saturday. "An agreement has been reached for the release of the ship, crew and food in the next three days," WFP spokeswoman Rene McGuffin told Reuters in Nairobi. The Somali militiamen hijacked the MV Semlow on June 27 as it headed for the...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Bill Clinton's nonprofit foundation signed an agreement Friday with the United Nations to help deliver food to AIDS patients in poor countries wracked by the pandemic. The Boston-based Clinton HIV-AIDS Initiative already sends doctors, medicine and equipment to 18 developing nations in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Last week it reached an agreement with China to provide services. The agreement with the World Food Program combines the Clinton Foundation's access to treatment with the U.N.'s food-distribution system. Officials from both groups say their partnership will expand care for AIDS victims already receiving anti-retroviral drugs from...

<p>UMM QASR, Iraq — Seven dusty, battered trucks rolled up with their precious cargo of food and water yesterday, defying sandstorms and defiant Iraqi gunmen to deliver the first humanitarian aid to reach this vital southern port.</p> <p>British forces waiting in Umm Qasr immediately began to distribute yellow meal packets and bottles of water to cheering youths, who had been confined to their homes during days of fighting.</p>