UNB, Des Moines, Iowa :Social enterprise visionary Sir Fazle Hasan Abed was announced as the 2015 winner of the World Food Prize, the most prominent global award for individuals whose breakthrough achievements alleviate hunger and promote global food security at a ceremony at the U.S. Department of State.Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs Charles H. Rivkin hosted the event andSecretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack delivered the keynote address, said a release of US Department of State on July 1.World Food Prize Foundation President and former U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Kenneth M. Quinn announced the name of the winner.This marks the 12th year the State Department has hosted the announcement and is also the 29th anniversary of the World Food Prize, which recognizes individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world, said the release.The $250,000 prize honors Sir Fazle’s unparalleled achievement in building the unique, integrated development organization BRAC, which is headquartered in Bangladesh and operates programs in 10 other countries around the globe, it said.Since its creation over 40 years ago, Sir Fazle’s organization has provided the opportunity to nearly 150 million people worldwide to improve their lives, enhanced food security, and created pathways out of poverty through its dynamic development programs, it added. At a time when the world confronts the great challenge of feeding over nine billion people, Sir Fazle Abed and BRAC, the organization he founded and leads, have created the preeminent model being followed around the globe on how to educate girls, empower women, and lift whole generations out of poverty. Sir Fazle will receive the World Food Prize at a ceremony that will be held in the State Capitol building in Des Moines, Iowa on the evening of October 15, 2015.
