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Showing posts from October, 2020

UN World Food Programme wins 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, as hunger mounts

UN World Food Programme wins 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, as hunger mounts A UN World Food Programme (WFP) helicopter delivers much-needed supplies to people in Udier, South Sudan. UNICEF/Peter Martell A UN World Food Programme (WFP) helicopter delivers much-needed supplies to people in Udier, South Sudan. 9 October 2020 Peace and Security The UN World Food Programme (WFP), which provides lifesaving food assistance to millions across the world – often in extremely dangerous and hard-to-access conditions – has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. The agency was recognized “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 to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict”, said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. WFP is the largest humanitarian organization in the world. Last year, it assisted 97 million people in 88 countries. Its efforts

Countries face ‘critical moment’ in COVID response: UN health agency chief

Countries face ‘critical moment’ in COVID response: UN health agency chief A volunteer guides and instructs girls in a town in Yemen, on the proper way to wash their hands.© UNICEF/Dhia Al-Adimi A volunteer guides and instructs girls in a town in Yemen, on the proper way to wash their hands. 2 October 2020 Health With strong leadership and comprehensive strategies it’s never too late for countries to change the trendlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite passing the tragic milestone of one million deaths this week amid regional surges in infections, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday. To be sure, countries are also seeing some two million new COVID-19 cases each week, WHO Executive Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at his latest press briefing in Geneva. Varying country contexts Describing four varying national situations, he said those countries that jumped on the virus quickly have avoided large outbreaks. Others had large outbrea