World Food Programme
Why in News?
• The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the UN agency World Food Programme
(WFP).
It was given for its efforts to combat hunger, contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and acting as a driving force to prevent the use of hunger as a Weapon of war and Conflict.
World Food Programme:
• World Food Programme was established in 1961.
• It is headquartered in Rome, Italy.
• It is governed by an Executive Board, which consists of 36 member states.
• WFP is headed by an Executive Director, who is appointed jointly by the UN Secretary-
General and the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations.
• WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency combating hunger.
• In 2019, it assisted 97 million people – the largest number since 2012 – in 88 countries. It
delivered about 4.4 million tonnes of food, purchased $1.7 billion worth of food from 91
countries, and $762 million worth of Goods and Services from 156 Countries.
