The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday that the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize goes to Navanethem, known as Navi, Pillay, an 85 year old South African jurist. The prize, worth 12 million Swedish crowns, about 1.2 million dollars, will be formally presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.
Pillay was born in 1940 in Durban, in what was then the racially segregated province of Natal. She became the first woman to start a law practice in the province and went on to a long international legal career. She served as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, later became the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and until recently chaired a UN commission of inquiry focused on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Today she serves as a judge on the International Court of Justice, hearing one of the court's most closely watched ongoing cases.
In its citation, the committee said the prize recognizes a person who, with courage and integrity, has helped build a more comprehensive global legal order, and who has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted. The committee praised her decades of work as marked by judicial rigor, personal integrity and considerable courage.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres congratulated Pillay, saying the prize is a tribute to everyone working to uphold international law, human rights and human dignity. The Nobel committee said other contenders considered this year included the International Space Station, emergency response teams in Sudan, and advocates for children in Ukraine. Pillay becomes the fifth South African to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Attention now turns to the formal Oslo ceremony on December 10, and to how the honor is received by the international courts and institutions Pillay has spent her career building.
Who is Navi Pillay?
She is a South African jurist who has held senior international legal roles, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a judgeship on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Why did she win the Nobel Peace Prize?
The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited her decades-long role in strengthening international law and ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide can be prosecuted.