Media CenterCRS Applauds World Food Program's 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Win

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Nikki Gamer
Catholic Relief Services
[email protected]
(978) 884 - 0003
 

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, Oct. 9, 2020 – Catholic Relief Services (CRS) issues the following statement in response to the announcement of the United Nations World Food Program as the winner of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.

“We applaud the World Food Program for receiving the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize recognizing its response to the dramatic increase in worldwide hunger. We appreciate the WFP’s partnership with many of our local Caritas partners around the world, which demonstrates its commitment to local organizations present in hard-to-reach, crisis-affected communities. 

As an implementing partner of the WFP in countries such as South Sudan and Sudan, we share the WFP’s commitment to reaching those most in need. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also witnessing a hunger pandemic of epic proportions. WFP estimates that more than 800 million people across the world don’t have enough to eat. Conflict, climate change and the spread of COVID-19 have led to a tsunami of need. Climate change impacts, such as erratic flooding and prolonged droughts, are driving farmers to the brink. The coronavirus pandemic is further preventing tens of millions of families from putting food on the table.

We’re heartened to see the Nobel committee recognize the work of the WFP, which puts a global spotlight on these growing needs while hopefully also signaling a renewed commitment to meet those needs. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we’re all interconnected. As the Holy Father said in his recent encyclical Fratelli Tutti, ‘We need to develop the awareness that nowadays we are either all saved together or no one is saved. Poverty, decadence and suffering in one part of the earth are a silent breeding ground for problems that will end up affecting the entire planet.’

We congratulate our friends and colleagues at the WFP for their courageous efforts in responding to this urgent challenge.”

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Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. The agency alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. For more information, visit www.crs.org or www.crsespanol.org and follow Catholic Relief Services on social media in English at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube; and in Spanish at: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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