South Africa's Navi Pillay wins 2026 Nobel Peace Prize
The Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo has awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South Africa-born Navanethem Pillay, 85, for promoting peace and international law. The committee said resolving conflicts without force depends on the international rule of law.
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, announced that the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, often regarded as the most prestigious honour in the world, goes to South Africa-born Navanethem “Navi” Pillay. She is 85, and was recognised for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
Watne Frydnes said Pillay's work is a source of hope and inspiration for everyone seeking a more peaceful world. At the time of the announcement, the committee had not yet managed to reach her to tell her about the award.
The committee's message
In its statement, the committee noted that the number of wars and conflicts is rising, while judges and institutions of international law face political attacks. It argued that the ability to resolve conflicts without force or violence depends on the international rule of law. A legal system in which war criminals are held to account and victims of abuse see justice done, it said, is a precondition for a peaceful world.
Background to the prize
The committee in Oslo received nominations for 287 candidates this year, just over a quarter of them organisations. The prize money is 12 million Swedish kronor, about $1.2 million. This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Peace Prize, which since 1901 has gone to 112 individuals and 28 separate institutions. The Red Cross has won it three times and the UN refugee agency twice.
Last year's laureate was Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, honoured for her struggle for a democratic transition in her country. She later gave her medal to US President Donald Trump, though the committee has said the honour itself cannot be transferred.
Other 2026 Nobel prizes
Four other prizes were announced earlier this week. The medicine prize went to three scientists whose work led to a light-based tool for studying how the brain works. The physics award recognised a scientist's efforts to explain a rare group of neutrinos, and the chemistry prize went to two scientists for work on mirror-image molecules, a discovery used in developing countless drugs. Canadian poet Anne Carson won the literature prize.
