The Nobel Peace Prize has already been awarded to 129 people since 1901. According to the concept of Alfred Nobel, this is an award given to individuals who were able to do the most or best work for fraternity among nations, for the promotion and holding of peace congresses, as well as the reduction or abolition of standing armies.
The purpose of Nobel Peace Prize is to give encouragement, attention, and the necessary funding to organizations and people who want to bring peace to the planet in order to help them become successful and expand their work. Even though there are hundreds of other peace prizes given all over the world, there is no doubt that the Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most popular, if not the most popular peace prize.
A Nobel Peace Prize winner will receive the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate title, a medal, a personal diploma as well as 10 million Swedish crowns or over $1.4 million USD.
Some of the most famous winners of Nobel Peace Prize include Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mother Teresa.
But, how do you really get a Nobel Peace Prize? Who are the people who choose the winner of this award?
The People Behind the Selection of the Winners of Nobel Peace Prize
The Norwegian Nobel Committee chooses the Nobel Peace Prize winners. The committee is composed of 5 members that the Norwegian parliament has appointed. The members are purported to be strictly independent. Since 1936, for instance, government officials are no longer allowed to sit on the committee to prevent any hints of the Committee being influenced by Norway’s present political climate.
How to be Nominated as a Nobel Peace Prize Winner
You are not allowed to nominate yourself or other people for the Nobel Peace Prize. You are also not allowed to campaign to win the award. The truth is that you will not know about your nomination because the records of nominees are being kept in secret for as long as 50 years.
Based on the official website of Nobel Peace Prize, only a select few people can submit nominees. These include national government members, International Court of Justice at The Hague and Permanent Court of Arbitration members, former winners of Nobel Peace Prize, university professors in specific fields, and others. Both organizations and individuals can be nominated.
Criteria in Choosing Nobel Peace Prize Winners
The main goal of Nobel Peace Prize is to give reward to people who made significant steps in bringing peace to the world in the year prior to the nomination.
The Nobel Peace Prize winners are usually people who didn’t only complete their work towards peace but are also at a crucial moment in their work and who require support winning brings.
To choose the winners, all nominees are considered by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. They then choose a short list composed of 5 to 20 people that they review further. These candidates are the ones considered to get the prize. The permanent advisors of the committee and other experts collect information on the candidates in the list to come up with reports that the committee uses for their deliberations.
The Committee will try to have a unanimous vote through debates and discussions. If there is no unanimous vote before the deadline set at the start of October, the winner of Nobel Peace Prize will be decided depending on the majority vote.