The Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 has been awarded to Navanetham 'Navi' Pillay. The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Friday that Pillay was chosen for her efforts to promote peace and international law.This year marks the 125th anniversary of the peace prize.
She was born into a family of Indian Tamil origin under apartheid in Durban, South Africa.
Pillay is a lawyer and legal pioneer, who confronts deep structural discrimination, segregation and exclusion. ''Navi Pillay is one of the great defenders of international legal principles in our time,'' said the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
''Her distinguished career reminds us of the need to support, fortify and expand the global rule of law. Navi Pillay’s commitment to justice and human dignity is a source of hope and inspiration to all who seek to bring about a more peaceful world.''
The Committee said Pillay significantly enlarged the scope and impact of international law. She had served as a judge in the High Court of South Africa, besides in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court.
She also served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and was recently the chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. She is currently a judge on the International Court of Justice in the case in which Myanmar stands accused of genocide.
The Nobel Prizes in Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Literature were awarded earlier. The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences will be presented on October 12.
American Francis Halzen won the Physics Nobel while the Chemistry Nobel was shared by Henri B Kagan and Kenso Sosai. Georg Nagel, Karl Deisseroth and Peter Hegemann were the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Canadian author Anne Carson was declared the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday.