U.N. food agency WFP hails Peace Nobel as call to action against hunger

FILE PHOTO: Workers carry the aid provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) for distribution in Pissila, Burkina Faso January 24, 2020. Picture taken January 24, 2020. REUTERS/Anne Mimault/File Photo

OSLO/GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations' World Food Programme, which has coordinated medical logistics during the coronavirus pandemic, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in what its boss said was a call to action that no one should go hungry with the wealth in the world today.

The head of the awards committee called the WFP a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict, and said the COVID-19 pandemic, which the WFP says could double hunger worldwide, had made it even more relevant.