Nobel Peace Prize 2026: Navi Pillay honored as Nobel committee calls for ‘peaceful world’ | Today’s news
Former UN human rights chief and International Court of Justice judge Navaneth “Navi” Pillay accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in Oslo, Norway.
Pillay, 85, who was born in South Africa, was honored for her work promoting peace and international law, said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
In a report, the committee said: “At a time when the number of wars and conflicts is increasing and when judges and institutions of international law are under political attack, the Nobel Committee wishes to remind that the ability to resolve conflicts without the use of force or violence depends on the international legal order.”
“An international legal system in which war criminals are brought to justice and victims of abuses of justice receive justice is a prerequisite for a peaceful world.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo received nominations for 287 candidates for this year’s prize, and just over a quarter of them are organizations. Experts say the committee usually focuses on the perpetuation of peace, the promotion of international brotherhood and the quiet work of institutions that reinforce these goals.
The UN welcomes the award
The UN human rights office on Friday welcomed news of Pillay’s Nobel Peace Prize award and recognized her long-standing advocacy for human rights.
“This is wonderful news, we need more dedication and commitment to human rights,” UN human rights office spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo told reporters in Geneva.
The award is often considered the most prestigious honor on the planet.
Last year, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize for her fight to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation, and was recognized as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid growing darkness.”
Machado presented Trump with the Nobel medal shortly after the United States ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro. But it was largely a symbolic gesture: the Nobel committee declared that the honor itself could not be transferred.
Four Nobel Prizes have been announced so far
This year’s four Nobel Prize winners were announced earlier this week. The Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded to three scientists whose work led to a tool that uses light to help clarify how the brain works. The physics prize recognized scientists’ efforts to demystify the rare group of neutrinos. A chemistry prize has honored two scientists for unraveling mysterious mirror images in molecules, a discovery that has been used to develop countless drugs.
Canadian poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson won a literary prize on Thursday for “bold and inventive” works that blend the classics with the modern and blur the lines between poetry and prose.
The Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Sciences will be announced on Monday.
