The Nobel Peace Prize for this year has been announced for Navi Pillay, an 85-year-old South African legal expert of Tamil origin. The Nobel committee said she was chosen for her sustained efforts for peace and justice at home and abroad, and for strengthening international law.
According to the report, 208 individuals and 79 organisations were considered for the award. The committee highlighted Pillay’s firm moral stance and her contributions to advancing international legal standards.
Pillay’s family roots trace back to Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul district, where her grandparents were taken in the 1890s to work in sugarcane plantations in South Africa’s Natal province during British rule. She grew up during a period when racial discrimination was state policy in South Africa, and later spoke out against injustices linked to apartheid while working as a lawyer.
She served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014 and worked as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice. From 2021 to 2025, she headed a UN independent international commission of inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The report also noted that US President Donald Trump, who had publicly said he should receive the Peace Prize for ending eight wars, reacted with disappointment and criticised Pillay. With Pillay’s selection, the number of women Nobel Peace Prize laureates has risen to 21, the report added.
