The Nobel Peace Prize, 2020 was awarded to which of the following organisations ?
- (a)World Food Programme
- (b)United Nations Development Programme
- (c)World Health Organisation
- (d)World Bank
Correct — A, the World Food Programme (WFP). The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize to the UN World Food Programme '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 in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.' WFP is the world's largest humanitarian organisation addressing hunger and food security.
- (b)United Nations Development Programme — UNDP works on poverty, governance and the Sustainable Development Goals, but it has never won the Nobel Peace Prize and was not the 2020 laureate.
- (c)World Health Organisation — Despite its central role in the COVID-19 response, WHO did not win the 2020 Peace Prize — the award went to the WFP.
- (d)World Bank — The World Bank is a development-finance institution and has not been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo — the only Nobel decided outside Sweden. The 2020 laureate was the World Food Programme (WFP), a UN agency headquartered in Rome and the world's largest humanitarian body fighting hunger. The award recognised food security as a foundation for peace, especially in conflict zones, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was deepening global food crises.
All four options are prominent international bodies, which is the trap; only WFP won in 2020. Anchor it: 2020 = pandemic year = hunger crisis = World Food Programme. Distinguish WFP (food/hunger) from WHO (health), UNDP (development) and the World Bank (finance).
- 2020 Nobel Peace Prize → the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
- Citation: combating hunger and preventing hunger from being used as a weapon of war.
- WFP is the world's largest humanitarian organisation on food security; headquartered in Rome.
- The Peace Prize is decided by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Oslo — the only Nobel not awarded in Sweden.
- Picking WHO because 2020 was the COVID year — WHO did not win.
- Confusing WFP (Rome, food) with FAO (also Rome) or UNDP (New York).
UPSC/UPPSC ask 'who/which organisation won the Nobel Peace Prize in year X', or link a laureate to the cause they were recognised for.
Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, is from
- (a) Iraq
- (b) Nigeria
- (c) Iran
- (d) Libya
Answer(c) Iran
Same concept — identifying a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and what/where they represent. Tests current-affairs recall of Peace Prize awardees, exactly as the 2020 WFP question does.
Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos Horta who shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize are known for their work for the cause of
- (a) East Timor
- (b) Guatemala
- (c) Bosnia
- (d) Barunda
Answer(a) East Timor
Same concept — linking a Nobel Peace Prize award to the cause it recognised (self-determination for East Timor), mirroring the WFP award for fighting hunger in 2020.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The World Food Programme, the 2020 Nobel Peace laureate, is headquartered in which city?
- (a)New York
- (b)Geneva
- (c)Rome
- (d)Vienna
Answer(c) Rome — alongside the FAO and IFAD, the UN's Rome-based food agencies.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by a committee based in which city?
- (a)Stockholm
- (b)Oslo
- (c)Geneva
- (d)Copenhagen
Answer(b) Oslo — the Norwegian Nobel Committee; the other Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.