The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded Friday in Oslo, Norway, to one of 338 candidates, among them 244 individuals and 94 organisations. US President Donald Trump has been hinting that he deserves the prize for several months for his involvement in various global conflicts.
PreviousNobel Peace Prizerecipients include imprisoned Iranianhuman rightscampaigner Narges Mohammadi (2023), theDalai Lama(1989) and Martin Luther King (1964).
US PresidentDonald Trumpis keen tofollow in their footsteps. Trump, who boasts of having ended seven wars in as many months in theWhite House, hassaid he deserves to win the prestigious prize, which was notably awarded to former US presidentBarack Obamain 2009.
While Trump's lobbying for the prize has been well publicised, his contributions to peace are less clear.Trump began his second term by threatening to annexGreenlandandtake control of thePanamaCanal, while slashing international aidand carrying out massdeportationsof immigrants from the United States. His decision to eliminate USAID could result in up to14 million deathsworldwide, according to astudy publishedin the Lancet medical journal in July.
Trumps policies are also difficult to reconcile with the Nobel Peace Prizes aim to honour those who promote"fraternity between nations.
Ten candidates including humanitarian organisations, political figures and civil society leaders are considered contenders to win this years prize, to be awarded on Friday in Oslo.
Read moreTrump may want a Nobel Peace Prize, but committee says it wont be swayed
The Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs)
Among themain contendersthis year are the Emergency ResponseRooms(ERRs) a misnomer since the ERRs are a network of more than 700 community-based organisations inSudanthat provide services that would normally be undertaken by a government. In a country ravaged by two years of brutal war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, ERR volunteers provide medical assistance, run communalkitchens and organise evacuations. Beyond their humanitarian role, ERRs document the ongoing conflict and provide information to the international media. Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the ERRs would highlight the courage of these volunteers working amid an under-reported conflict that has alreadydisplaced 13 million peopleand which theUNhas called the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
Volodymyr Zelensky
Ukraines PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyhas become an icon of resistance to the Russian invasion and has been seen as a credible peace prize winner since at least 2022. With peace negotiations betweenKyivandMoscowinitiated by Trump seemingly at a standstill, the choice ofZelensky could generate further support for his embattled country.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
The Nobel Committee chose to honour the defence of a free press in 2021 byawarding the prizeto Philippine journalistMaria Ressa, founder of the investigative media outlet Rappler, and Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. It would be fitting if journalists were to be honoured again, given the risks of covering ongoing wars, particularly in theGaza Strip, and the risks to a independent press globally. At least210 journalistshave beenkilled in the Palestinian enclaveduring Israeli military operations over the past two years, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in September.
Mahrang Baloch
Balochis one ofPakistan's best-known human rightsactivistsand has for years denounced the abductions and extrajudicial killings of the Baloch ethnic minorityin Balochistan province. She has been jailed for her activism since March in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, accused by the authorities ofterrorism, sedition and murder. The 30-year-old, a surgeon by training, could become the second Pakistani woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, eleven years afterMalala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the prize.
International Criminal Court (ICC)
TheICC, currently targeted by sanctions from Washington, could receive symbolic support from the Nobel Committee. US sanctions werelevied in retaliation for the arrest warrants issued against two Israeli officials, including Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, forcrimes against humanity, and for the courts investigation into allegedwar crimesby US forces inAfghanistan. Established in 2002, the ICC has prosecuted dozens of politicians, warlords and heads of state for genocide, war crimes andcrimes against humanity. Three countries in theSahelregionBurkina Faso,Maliand Niger, all ruled by military juntas announced their withdrawal from the ICC in September.
Read moreICC convicts Sudan militia chief in first Darfur war crimes verdict
Yulia Navalnaya
The widow of Russian opposition leaderAlexei Navalny, who died in February 2024 under suspicious circumstances in a Russian penal colony in the Arctic Circle, Yulia Navalnayahas vowed to continue her husband's activism. In June, she launched a new television channel called Future of Russia to counterKremlinpropaganda. If she were named as a Nobel laureate, Navalnaya could help shine a light on Russian civil society amid increased repression since the start of Moscows full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. That year, the Nobel Committee honoured three human rights advocates from former Soviet countries who promoted the right to criticise power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens campaigner Ales Bialiatski fromBelarus, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights group Center for Civil Liberties.
Read moreNavalny widow launches TV channel to fight Russia 'censorship'
Chow Hang-tung
A lawyer and human rights activist, Chow Hang-tung is one of the leading opponents of theChinese authorities in Hong Kong. She was vice-president of theHong KongAlliancegroup that organised annual vigils commemorating theTiananmenSquare massacre of 1989. In 2021, the group announced its dissolution in the face of pressure fromBeijing. Chow has been repeatedly arrested since 2021, most recently in May 2024 forallegedly publishing seditious social media posts. Under thenew national security law, if found guilty ofinciting subversion of state power she could face up to 10 years in prison.
Standing Together
Founded in 2015, the Israeli-Palestinian peace organisation Standing Together has 5,300 members. It opposes settlement activity in theWest Bankand campaigns for equality between Israelis and Palestinians. Since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, its activists have played a leading role in opposing the war in Gaza by staging numerous demonstrations and sit-ins, and by opposing the obstruction ofhumanitarian aiddeliveries to the Palestinian enclave.
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani
This choice could prove controversial, given Qatar's ambiguous geopolitical role and the human rights situation in the country. However, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who serves as prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, played a crucial role in mediating the ceasefire betweenHamasandIsraelin January.Qatarhas also facilitated talks between the United States and theTaliban. In recent years, it has established itself as a key mediator in various conflicts, including inLebanon, Sudan andYemen. Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to al-Thani would highlight the importance of regional actors in peace efforts.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
It is unlikely thatNATOwould be awarded the Nobel, in part because giving the prize to NATO would reinforce the ideathat the Nobel Committee has a mainly Western outlook. This critique has been taken on board by the committee in recent years, and has resulted in a more open approach to laureates from the Global South.Nevertheless, awarding NATO the prize could send the Alliance the messagethat its members' plans to increase defence spending are not a sure path to peace.
This article was adapted from theoriginal in Frenchby David Howley.
Originally published on France24
