Beasley’s group wins Nobel for efforts against hunger
DAVID BEASLEY
From Staff Reports
The United Nations’ World Food Program – an organization currently led by Lamar native and Society Hill resident David Beasley – last week won the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts against hunger.
The group, based in Rome, last year aided nearly 100 million people in 88 countries.
In 2017, President Trump nominated Beasley, South Carolina’s GOP governor in the 1990s, for the job of running the agency. “I think this is the first time in my life I’ve been without words,” Beasley told The Associated Press. “I was just so shocked and surprised.”
The Nobel was announced Friday. “Talk about the most exciting point in time in your life, it’s the Nobel Peace Prize. And it’s because of the (World Food Program) family,” Beasley told the AP. “They’re out there in the most difficult, complex places in the world, where there’s war, conflict, climate extremes. … They deserve this award. And wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.”
Beasley posted on Twitter: “We are deeply humbled to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This is an incredible recognition of the dedication of the (World Food Program) family, working to end hunger every day in 80-plus countries.”
It’s been a rollercoaster year for the former governor. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, he caught the virus and recuperated at home. “It was never awful,” Beasley said of being sick with COVID. “But it’s obviously been an ordeal.”
Some 211 people and 107 groups were nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The award includes a gold medal and $1.1 million cash prize.
