In celebration of the International Day of Peace this coming September 21, let us look at the Nobel peace prize, an award giving body which aims to recognize organization or "persons who have done most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses"
- On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes, the Nobel Prizes, one of which is the Nobel Peace prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee is responsible for the selection of eligible candidates and the choice of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. The Committee is composed of five members appointed by the Storting (Norwegian parliament). The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.
- Below is a brief description of the process involved in selecting the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.
- September – The Norwegian Nobel Committee prepares to receive nominations. A nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize may be submitted by only qualified nominators. The names of the nominees and other information about the nominations cannot be revealed until 50 years later. The candidates eligible for the Nobel Peace Prize are those submitted by qualified nominators as below:
- Members of national assemblies and governments of states;
- Members of international courts;
- University rectors; professors of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology; directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes;
- Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;
- Board members of organizations who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;
- Active and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee; (proposals by members of the Committee to be submitted no later than at the first meeting of the Committee after February 1) and
- Former advisers appointed by the Norwegian Nobel Institute.
- February – Deadline for submission. The Committee bases its assessment on nominations that must be postmarked no later than 1 February each year. Nominations postmarked and received after this date are included in the following year's discussions.
- February-March – Short list. The Committee assesses.
- March-August – Adviser review. The short list is reviewed by permanent advisers and advisers specially recruited for their knowledge of specific candidates. The advisers do not directly evaluate nominations nor give explicit recommendations.
- October – Nobel Laureates are chosen. At the beginning of October, the Nobel Committee chooses the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates through a majority vote. The decision is final and without appeal. The names of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.
- December – Nobel Laureates receive their prize. The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony takes place on 10 December in Oslo, Norway, where the Nobel Laureates receive their Nobel Prize, which consists of a Nobel Medal and Diploma, and a document confirming the award.
- The face of the medal of the Norwegian Nobel Committee shows Alfred Nobel in a pose. The inscription reads: Pro pace et fraternitate gentium translated "For the peace and brotherhood of men". The Nobel Peace Prize Medal was designed by Gustav Vigeland.
- As of 2011, the Peace Prize has been awarded to 101 individuals and 20 organizations. Some of the most famous awardees are as follows:
- Henry Dunant (1901) - For his role in founding the International Committee of the Red Cross
- Theodore Roosevelt (1906) - For his successful mediation to end the Russo-Japanese war and for his interest in arbitration, having provided the Hague arbitration court with its very first case
- International Committee of the Red Cross (1917/1944) - For the great work it has performed during the war in behalf of humanity
- Martin Luther King, Jr. (1964) - Campaigner for civil rights, "first person in the Western world to have shown us that a struggle can be waged without violence."
- UNICEF (1965) - An international aid organization
- Mother Teresa (1979) - Founder of Missionaries of Charity
- United Nations Peace Keeping Forces (1988) - for their efforts [that] have made important contributions towards the realization of one of the fundamental tenets of the United Nations
- Nelson Mandela (1993) - "for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa"
- Jimmy Carter (2002) - "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development"
- Al Gore (2007) - for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.
- The individuals and organizations awarded a Nobel Prize are called Nobel Laureates. The word "Laureate" refers to being signified by the laurel wreath. In Greek mythology, the god Apollo is represented wearing a laurel wreath on his head. A laurel wreath is a circular crown made of branches and leaves of the bay laurel. In ancient Greek laurel wreaths were awarded to victors as a sign of honor - both in athletic competitions and in poetic meets.
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