Former WFP chief awarded 2003 World Food Prize

Hailed as an "unsung hero" in the global fight against hunger, Catherine Bertini, United Nations Under Secretary-General for Management and former head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), has been awarded the 2003 World Food Prize.

Following the announcement, the World Food Prize Foundation applauded Ms. Bertini's contribution in "defeating large-scale famine in our time," and praised her decade of leadership at WFP, during which she transformed the agency "from primarily a development assistance organization into the largest and most responsive humanitarian relief organization in the world, delivering life-sustaining food aid to over 700 million people."

The $250,000 prize, referred to as the "Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture," will be awarded on 16 October, World Food Day, in Des Moines, Iowa. It is the foremost international award inspiring and recognizing breakthrough achievements that increase the quality, quantity and availability of food in the world. Ms. Bertini pioneered the practice of channelling food aid through women, thus ensuring the most widespread and effective distribution of food in crisis situations.

Welcoming Ms. Bertini's selection as the 2003 prize winner from WFP Headquarters in Rome today, the agency's current Executive Director, James T. Morris said: "Her achievements made the difference between life and death for the millions of hungry people around the world and all of us at WFP welcome this timely recognition."