The World Food Programme, which is run by former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee described the award Friday, recognizing the WFP 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.”
“For the first time in my life, I’m speechless. This is unbelievable,” he said in a video posted to Twitter Friday morning.
Praising the World Food Programme staff scattered across the planet “in the most difficult, complex places in the world,” he said. “Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.”
The distinction drew congratulations from the likes of Joe Biden, Bill Gates, Ivanka Trump, the Dalai Lama and others. Fellow former-S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley even weighed in, despite being highly critical of the United Nations since serving as the United States’ ambassador early in the Trump administration.
“The world is in danger of experiencing a hunger crisis of inconceivable proportions if the World Food Programme and other food assistance organisations do not receive the financial support they have requested,” the Nobel Committee wrote in a press release Friday.
In subsequent posts over the weekend, Beasley appeared back at work in the West African nation of Burkina Faso, where WFP leaders were checking in.
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