The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize goes to South African Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, the human rights pioneer and former UN Human Rights High Commissioner  “for her efforts to promote peace and international law.” Pillay played an integral part in the anti-apartheid movement and served as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

“Navi Pillay is one of the great defenders of international legal principles in our time. 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 Norwegian Nobel Committee said during the announcement on Friday, October 9th.

Judge on the ICT for Rwanda

Navi Pillay was the first woman to start a law practice in her home province of Natal in South Africa in 1967. Over the next few years, she acted as a defense attorney for anti-apartheid activists, exposing torture, and helping establish key rights for prisoners on Robben Island.

Navi Pillay worked as a lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and later was appointed Vice-President of the Council of the University of Durban Westville. In 1995, after the end of apartheid, Ms. Pillay was appointed as acting judge on the South African High Court, and in the same year was elected by the UN General Assembly to be a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where she served a total of eight years, the last four (1999-2003) as President.

She played a critical role in the ICTR’s groundbreaking jurisprudence on rape as genocide, as well as on issues of freedom of speech and hate propaganda. In 2003, she was appointed as a judge on the International Criminal Court in the Hague, where she served on the Appeals Chamber until August 2008.

In 2025, Navi Pillay, as Chair of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, oversaw an investigation into alleged violations of international law during the conflict. Appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, the Commission published a report concluding that Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip constituted genocide.

Navanethem Pillay as chair of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory briefing reporters on the first report of the Commission in October 2022. Photo: UN Photo/Mark GartenContribution to equality clause

In South Africa, as a member of the Women’s National Coalition, she contributed to the inclusion of the equality clause in the country’s Constitution that prohibits discrimination on grounds of race, gender, religion and sexual orientation. She co-founded Equality Now, an international women’s rights organization, and has been involved with other organizations working on issues relating to children, detainees, victims of torture and of domestic violence, and a range of economic, social and cultural rights.

“She has shown that the force of law must prevail over the law of force and that defending human rights is the surest safeguard against injustice. In its citation, the Nobel Committee reminded the world that peace must be built on lasting principles, not the will of the powerful. Today’s prize is a tribute to all those working to uphold and defend international law, the rule of law and human rights, and secure peace, justice and human dignity”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres says in his statement, congratulating Pillay on her award.

Ms. Pillay received a BA and a LLB from Natal University South Africa. She also holds a Master of Law and a Doctorate of Juridical Science from Harvard University. She was born in 1941, and has two daughters.

History of the Nobel Peace Prize The 2026 prize was awarded to Navi Pillay for her efforts to promote peace and international law. Photo: UN

When the Swedish businessman Alfred Nobel died in 1896, he left behind one of the largest fortunes in Europe at the time. In his will, Nobel stipulated that his entire fortune be placed in a securities fund in which “the interest of is to be distributed annually as a prize to those who, during the past year, have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind”.

Regarding the Peace Prize, the will states that it shall be awarded to the person “who has done the most or the best work for the brotherhood of nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies, as well as the organization and promotion of peace congresses.”

The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901. Since then, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 105 times to 139 recipients: 92 men, 19 women, and 28 organizations. Of these 105 awards, the United Nations, its specialised agencies, funds, programmes, related organizations, and staff were awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize twelve times, Navi Pillay makes the 13th.