The Nobel Peace Prize was on Friday awarded to the Japanese anti-nuclear group Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as Hibakusha.
The group, founded in 1956, received the honour "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again," said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo.
The Nobel committee expressed alarm that the international "nuclear
taboo" that developed in response to the atomic bomb attacks of August 1945 was "under pressure".
"This year's prize is a prize that focuses on the necessity of upholding this nuclear taboo. And we have all a responsibility, particularly the nuclear powers," Frydnes told reporters.
Last year, the prestigious prize went to imprisoned women's rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran.
The prize comes with a gold medal, a diploma and a prize sum of $1 million (913,000 euro).
The award will be presented at a formal ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of the prizes' creator, Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel.
The Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded in Oslo, with the other disciplines announced in Stockholm.
On Thursday, South Korean author Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in Literature for her work exploring the correspondence between mental and physical torment as well as historical events.
The Nobel season winds up Monday with the economics prize.
The Nobel Peace Prize is being awarded Friday against a backdrop of devastating conflicts raging in the world, notably in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.
Alfred Nobel stated in his will that the prize should be awarded for "the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” Since 1901, 104 Nobel Peace Prizes have been awarded, mostly to individuals but also to organizations that have been seen to advance peace efforts.
Last year’s prize went to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for her advocacy of women’s rights and democracy, and against the death penalty. The Nobel committee said it also was a recognition of “the hundreds of thousands of people” who demonstrated against “Iran’s theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women.”
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But in a year of such conflict, the Norwegian Nobel Committee that decides on the winner could opt not to award a prize. The last time that happened was in 1972.
In the Middle East, persistently spiraling levels of violence over the past year have killed tens of thousands of people, including thousands of children and women. The war, sparked by a bloody raid into Israel by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023 that left about 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, has spilled out into the wider region.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says more than half are women and children. In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed, with thousands more injured and around 1 million displaced since mid-September, when the Israeli military dramatically expanded its offensive against Hezbollah.
The war in Ukraine, sparked by Russia's invasion, is heading toward its third winter with a staggering loss of human life on both sides.
The U.N. has confirmed more than 11,000 Ukrainian civilian dead, but that doesn’t take into account as many as 25,000 Ukrainians believed to have died during the Russian capture of the city of Mariupol or unreported deaths in the occupied territories.
Western officials have estimated Russian military casualties around 600,000, with perhaps 150,000 dead, and public reports put Russian civilian dead around 150, mostly in the border region of Belgorod.
Ukrainian military deaths were last announced in February at 31,000 and the president has said there are six wounded for every soldier killed.
On the African continent, Sudan has been devastated by a 17-month war that that has so far killed more than 20,000 people and forced more than 8 million people from their homes, while roughly another 2 million were already displaced within the country before hostilities broke out.
The Nobel prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million). Unlike the other Nobel prizes that are selected and announced in Stockholm, founder Alfred Nobel decreed the peace prize be decided and awarded in Oslo by the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The Nobel season ends Monday with the announcement of the winner of the economics prize, formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
BBC adds; Speaking to reporters in Japan, a tearful Toshiyuki Mimaki, the co-head of the group, said: "Never did I dream this could happen," the AFP news agency quotes him as saying.
Getty The Hiroshima Peace Memorial building in the sunlightGetty
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial building was the only structure left standing in the area after the first atomic bomb was dropped in 1945
The decision to recognise Nihon Hidankyo means the Nobel committee has steered away from more controversial nominees for the peace prize.
There had been widespread speculation the United Nations agency supporting Palestinians – UNWRA – was being considered for the prize.
Although the organisation is the main provider of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, nine of its members were fired for alleged involvement in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 last year.
More than 12,000 people had signed a petition urging the committee not to award UNWRA the prize.
There were equal concerns about the nomination of the International Court of Justice.
The UN’s main judicial organ is currently considering allegations that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and has already issued a statement urging the Israeli authorities to refrain from genocidal acts.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute said 286 candidates had been nominated for this year's peace prize, a number comprising 197 individuals and 89 organisations.
Nominations can be made by people in positions of significant authority, including members of national assemblies, governments and international courts of law.
Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi won the prize in 2023, when she was honoured for her work fighting the oppression of women in Iran.
Dr Yunus greets Nihon Hidankyo
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad on Friday Yunus congratulated Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese atomic bomb survivors' group, on its winning of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024.
"Congratulations to Nihon Hidankyo on being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024. Your unwavering commitment to nuclear disarmament and peace is an inspiration to us all," Prof Yunus said in a message.
Prof Yunus, also Nobel Peace Laureate, said: "Your advocacy and tireless efforts to ensure that the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are never forgotten resonate deeply in our quest for a safer world".
"Thank you for your courage and dedication. Warmest congratulations once again," the message read.
Nihon Hidankyo has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize for its dedication to creating a world free from nuclear weapons.
