With 270 million people – more than the entire population of Western Europe – “marching toward starvation”, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) called for greater action to avert a “hunger pandemic”, in accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the UN agency on Thursday, UN News reports.
WFP Executive Director David Beasley warned “famine is at humanity’s doorstop”, threatening to destroy lives and undo so much we hold dear, according to the report.
“Because of so many wars, climate change, the widespread use of hunger as a political and military weapon, and a global health pandemic that makes all of that exponentially worse —270 million people are marching toward starvation,” he was quoted by UN News as saying while speaking from the agency’s headquarters in Rome.
“Failure to address their needs will cause a hunger pandemic which will dwarf the impact of COVID. And if that’s not bad enough, out of that 270 million, 30 million depend on us 100 per cent for their survival.”
Lifesaving work in dangerous locations
WFP was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize back in October for its work providing lifesaving food assistance to millions worldwide, often in dangerous locations. Last year, it supported nearly 100 million people, UN News notes.
Mr Beasley reportedly underlined that food is “the pathway to peace.” For the agency, it is also sacred, and their work is “an act of love”, he was quoted as telling the online ceremony, citing both the 1964 Nobel laureate, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, and The Bible.
“We stand at what may be the most ironic moment in modern history. On the one hand — after a century of massive strides in eliminating extreme poverty, today those 270 million of our neighbours are on the brink of starvation. That’s more than the entire population of Western Europe”, he was quoted to have said.
“On the other hand, there is $400 trillion of wealth in our world today. Even at the height of the COVID pandemic, in just 90 days, an additional $2.7 trillion of wealth was created. And we only need $5 billion to save 30 million lives from famine.”
Life-or-death choices
Mr Beasley, according to the UN News report, pointed out that many of his friends, as well as world leaders, often remark that he has the greatest job in the world, saving the lives of millions.
However, he reportedly begged to differ with those friends and world leaders who make such remark about him.
“Well, here is what I tell them: ‘I don’t go to bed at night thinking about the children we saved, I go to bed weeping over the children we could not save.
“And, when we don’t have enough money, nor the access we need, we have to decide which children eat and which children do not eat, which children live, which children die. 
“How would you like that job?’," he was quoted as saying, adding "Please don’t ask us to choose who lives and who dies.”