A prize with a big impact
What does it mean to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize? For the World Food Programme (WFP), who was announced as this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate a month ago, the prize has already meant a lot. After 9 October 2020, more people have become aware of WFP – and more people want to support their work.
“The Nobel Peace Prize is a recognition of the important link between conflict and hunger and the critical role food assistance plays in supporting peace and stability for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change,” says Tim Hunter, Director of Private Partnerships and Fundraising at the World Food Programme.
WFP has 20,000 staff working in more than 80 countries to provide food assistance to about 100 million people each year. When the Nobel Peace Prize was announced in October, Executive Director David Beasley was with WFP staff in Niger, and audiences across theworld took part in his joyful reaction to the award.
""This is the first time in my life I've been speechless!""
In the following weeks, the World Food Programme received a significant jump in media attention. WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, but it has never before been a trending topic on Twitter. WFP’s social media accounts gained almost 50,000 new followers in the first week after the announcement of the prize, and many of those who are learning more about the organization are also becoming regular donors.
On the day of the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize, donations to the World Food Programme spiked, Ted Hunter explains. “On our ShareTheMeal app, for example, daily donations doubled and the number of app users signing up to become monthly supporters increased by more than 300 percent.”
When the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded at a ceremony in the University Aula in Oslo 10 December, the World Food Programme will receive a gold medal, a diploma and an amount of 10 million Swedish crowns (USD 1,1 million). The amount has already been multiplied many times by the increase in donations the prize and the attention has led to. Hunter and his colleagues are grateful for the support and say it helps amplify the voices of the 690 million people who go to bed hungry each night:
“It is incredibly encouraging to see so many new people step up and join us as regular supporters, particularly now as more and more families around the world struggle to put healthy food on the table because of the economic impact of COVID-19.”
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