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Peace must be paced by human progress

In 1950, Ralph Bunche received the Nobel Peace Prize, recognizing his remarkable achievement as a mediator in negotiating a ceasefire between Israelis and Arabs during the conflict that followed the 1948 creation of the state of Israel.

At his Nobel Lecture, he stressed that "peace must be paced by human progress. Peace is no mere matter of men fighting or not fighting."

"Peace, to have meaning for many who have known only suffering in both peace and war, must be translated into bread or rice, shelter, health, and education, as well as freedom and human dignity ??¨¬ a steadily better life."

In this photo, taken in 1964, he meets Dr. Martin Luther King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, just weeks after King won the Nobel Peace Prize. Ralph Bunche was the first African American to be awarded the Peace Prize.

Photo: UN Photo/Yutaka Nagata/New York

Peace is more than just the absence of war

In 1954, the (UNHCR) made history as the first UN entity to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, recognized for its "efforts to heal the wounds of war by providing help and protection to refugees all over the world."

Nearly three decades later, in 1981, UNHCR won the Nobel Peace Prize again. It was honored for its efforts to particularly support the repatriation of refugees across Asia, Africa, and Latin America in the 1970s.

Today, the world faces the on record. By mid-2025, over 122 million people were forcibly displaced, marking a full decade of year-on-year increases.

"Peace is more than just absence of war. It is rather a state in which no people of any country live in fear or in need," said UNHCR's first High Commissioner for Refugees.

Photo: UN Photo/Evan Schneider/Pakistan

No peace which is not peace for all

In 1961, former UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskj¡Ì?ld tragically died in a plane crash near Zambia while en route to critical ceasefire negotiations during the Congo crisis.

He was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize that year, recognizing his success in developing the ºÚÁÏרÇø into an effective and constructive international organization.

Hammarskj¡Ì?ld was also recognized for having organized a peacekeeping force in the Middle East after the Suez crisis, and for his commitment to peace during the civil war in the Congo.

He believed that "no peace which is not peace for all" - meaning there can be no peace until there is peace for all.

Photo: UN Photo/New York

Children are the primary agents of change

In 1965, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) received the Nobel Peace Prize for "improving living conditions for children and mothers in developing countries."

Upon giving the prize, the Nobel Committee declared that "everyone has understood the language of UNICEF, and even the most reluctant person is bound to admit that in action UNICEF has proved that compassion knows no national boundaries."

Today, UNICEF's work has never been more critical but severe cuts to global aid and the consequential rollbacks in vital services are having immense impact on children worldwide. About four and a half million children under five could lose their lives by the end of 2026.

"Giving help and hope to children in crisis gives something to us all. When we share vaccines, we stop diseases before they cross borders."

Photo: UNICEF/Bangladesh

If you want peace, secure justice

The International Labour Organization (ILO) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969 "for creating international legislation insuring certain norms for working conditions in every country."

Established in 1919 as part of the Treaty of Versailles, ILO's Constitution begins with the affirmation "that universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice."

In 2025, the ILO warned that geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions are weakening the global economic outlook, leading to slower job growth. The organization maintains that meaningful job growth is possible only if the world strengthens social protection.

Photo: AVSI Foundation/Uganda

Soldiers as a catalyst for peace

In 1988, UN Peacekeeping won the Nobel Peace Prize "for preventing armed clashes and creating conditions for negotiations."

Former UN Secretary-General Javier P¡Ì?rez de Cu¡Ì?llar received the award, saying "the essence of peacekeeping is the use of soldiers as a catalyst for peace rather than as the instruments of war."

Since 1948, UN Peacekeeping has been one of the most globally recognized symbols of the world's ability to come together to help countries move from conflict to peace.

The enduring legacy of the more than two million peacekeepers, who have served in over 70 missions under the UN flag since 1948, lies in the lives saved and the futures rebuilt.

Photo: UN Peacekeeping/Lebanon

Peace has no parade, no pantheon of victory

In 2001, the Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the ºÚÁÏרÇø and then Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Committee proclaimed that the only route to global peace and cooperation is through the ºÚÁÏרÇø.

In his acceptance speech, Kofi Annan offered a profound reflection: "Sadly, a prize for peace is a rarity in this world. Most nations have monuments or memorials to war, bronze salutations to heroic battles, archways of triumph. But peace has no parade, no pantheon of victory."

Annan asserted that peace must be sought not as an abstraction, but as a tangible reality: "Peace must be made real and tangible in the daily existence of every individual in need."

He concluded that answering the fundamental needs of the human family "will be the mission of the ºÚÁÏרÇø in the century to come."

Photo: UN Photo/New York

Force does not heal old wounds; it opens new ones

The Nobel Committee presented the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its former Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei, with the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes."

At the Nobel lecture, ElBaradei said "imagine what would happen if the nations of the world spent as much on development as on building the machines of war."

In 2005, the world spent about $1 trillion on its militaries. Nearly 20 years later, the number almost tripled to $2.7 trillion and is expected to reach $6.6 trillion in the next ten years.

"History has taught us that war rarely resolves our differences. Force does not heal old wounds; it opens new ones."

Photo: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe/New York

Warming of our climate system is unequivocal

In 2007, the Nobel Peace Prize went to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and former US Vice President Al Gore for "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change."

R. K. Pachauri, the former Chairman of the IPCC, said "peace can be defined as security and the secure access to resources that are essential for living. A disruption in such access could prove disruptive to peace."

In 2007, the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report warned that the "warming of the climate system is unequivocal." In its latest report, released in 2023, the Panel delivered an even starker message - "every increment of warming results in rapidly escalating hazards."

Photo: NASA

Peace is a question of will

In 2008, Martti Ahtisaari, a statesman, diplomat and mediator who dedicated his life to the cause of peace, received the Nobel Peace Prize for his decades-long efforts to resolve conflicts around the world.

Working with the ºÚÁÏרÇø, he made invaluable contributions, including as the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Namibia, Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management, Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and Special Envoy for the Future Status Process for Kosovo.

At the Nobel Lecture, he noted "wars and conflicts are not inevitable. They are caused by human beings. There are always interests that are furthered by war. Therefore those who have power and influence can also stop them."

"If we work together, we can find solutions. We should not accept any excuses from those in power. Peace is a question of will."

Photo: UN Photo/Namibia

Our task is to consign chemical weapons to history, forever

In 2013, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "its comprehensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons."

The horrors of chemical warfare were tragically demonstrated during World War I, when over 124,000 tons of chemical agents were released, causing nearly 100,000 deaths and leaving millions with horrific injuries.

The Chemical Weapons Convention has led to the verified destruction of 100 per cent of the world's declared chemical weapons stockpiles since 1997.

"Our task is to consign chemical weapons to history, forever - a task we have been carrying out with quiet determination, and no small measure of success," said Ahmet ¡Ì¨²z¡Ì?mc¡Ì?, former Director-General of OPCW.

Photo: OPCW

Let us all unite to fight injustice and oppression

In 2018, the Nobel Peace Prize was jointly awarded to Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their tireless efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.

Murad, who herself was enslaved by the Islamic State in 2014, used her Nobel Lecture to issue a powerful global call: "Let us raise our voices together and say: No to violence, yes to peace, no to slavery, yes to freedom, no to racial discrimination, yes to equality and to human rights for all."

Her message remains critically urgent today. With the bodies of women and girls tragically continuing to be used as battlegrounds in wars, the ºÚÁÏרÇø verified over 4,600 reported cases of conflict-related sexual violence last year alone.

Photo: UN Photo/New York

Don't ask us to choose who lives and who dies

In 2020, the World Food Programme (WFP) received the Nobel Peace Prize for "its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict."

David Beasley, the then Executive Director WFP, said "when we don't have enough money, nor the access we need, we have to decide which children eat and which children do not eat, which children live, which children die. Please, don't ask us to choose who lives and who dies."

Today, cuts to official development assistance and global aid have reduced WFP's funding by 34 per cent, meaning up to 16.7 million people risk losing their food assistance.

Photo: UN Photo/Albert Gonzalez Farran/Sudan