The United Nations food agency, the World Food Programme (WFP), won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its efforts to combat hunger and improve conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas.
The Rome-based organisation says it helps some 97 million people in about 88 countries each year and that one in nine people worldwide still do not have enough to eat.
"The need for international solidarity and multilateral cooperation is more conspicuous than ever," Chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen of the Norwegian Nobel Committee told a news conference.
The WFP is a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict, with the COVID-19 outbreak further boosting its relevance, she said.
"The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to a strong upsurge in the number of victims of hunger in the world," the Nobel committee said in its citation.
"Until the day we have a medical vaccine, food is the best vaccine against chaos ..."
"There is an estimate within the World Food Programme that... there will be 265 million starving people within a year, so of course this is also a call to the international community not to underfund the World Food Programme."
The World Food Programme said this was "a proud moment ... nothing short of a feat".
The prize is worth 10 million Swedish crowns, or around NZD$1.7million, and will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern missed out on the award despite commentators saying she had a good chance of winning.
Before the ceremony bookies had Ardern ranked in the top 3 for the prize along with climate activist Greta Thunberg and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Ardern has been widely praised for her response to the Christchurch mosque attacks in March 2019 and her leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded annually since 1901 by a committee of five people selected by the Norwegian parliament known as the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Nobel Committee members are elected for six-year terms and can be re-elected. Members are chosen to represent strengths of all political parties in the Norwegian parliament.
The Nobel prizes began when Swedish businessman Alfred Nobel passed away in 1896, leaving behind what was once one of the world's largest private fortunes.
In his will, Nobel invested his full remaining fortune of 31.5 Swedish kronor to fund the awards. He outlined conditions and rules regarding how the system should work which are still followed to this day.
The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901 and shared between Frédéric Passy and Jean Henry Dunant.
Last year Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiu Ahmed won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation.
