International Campaign To Abolish Nuclear Weapons Wins 2017 Nobel Peace Prize

It’s official: The International Campaign To Abolish Nuclear Weapons is the winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize! The organization is being awarded this prestigious honor for its effort to eliminate nuclear weapons.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has made its decision for who will be awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. This year, the award goes to the International Campaign To Abolish Nuclear Weapons. The Geneva-based organization wins a $1.1. million prize for its efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons via an international treaty prohibition. ICAN “has been a driving force in prevailing upon the world’s nations to pledge to cooperate…in efforts to stigmatize, prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons,” the Committee’s chairwoman explained. She added, “Through its inspiring and innovative support for the U.N. negotiations on a treaty banning nuclear weapons, ICAN has played a major part in bringing about what, in our day and age, is equivalent to an international peace congress.”

Since 1901, a five member committee in Norway has combed through the long lists of nominees to decide which person or organization will win the Nobel Peace Prize. This year, there was a near-record breaking 318 nominations. The nominations are made by a wide range of  qualified people who meet one or more of these qualifications: Members of national assemblies and governments, Members of Inter-Parliamentary Union, Members of the Parliament Court of Arbitration and International Course of Justice at the Hague, Members of Institut de Droit, University professors of history, social sciences, philosophy, law and theology, University presidents, Directors of peace research and international affairs institutes, Former recipients, Present/past members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and Former advisers of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Not all of the nominees are necessarily considered “prestigious.” For example, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were among the 2017 nominees.
ICAN joins a long list of successful men and women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the past. In 2016, the honor went to Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos. Other recent winners include the National Dialogue Quartet, Malala Yousafzai and the European Union. This year’s winner will accept the 2017 award in Oslo, Norway in December.