Nobel Peace Prize

From ArticleWorld

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five international Nobel Prizes awarded annually based on the will of the Swedish inventor and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel. Though Alfred Nobel was the man who invented dynamite, he wrote his final will to include a Prize for persons or organizations who have done the best work for mediation of conflicts between nations, disarmament or arms control, and for promoting peace.

The Peace Prize is the only prize that is awarded yearly in Oslo, Norway, while the rest of the Nobel prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.

History and appointment

Alfred Nobel left the bigger portion of his estate to a fund, the interest of which was to be given yearly to the persons whose work has significantly benefited human beings. In 1900, the statute of the institution that will administer the fund – the Nobel Foundation – was adopted.

The Norwegian Parliament "Storting" appoints the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which is the prize-awarding institution. The Committee is the body that selects the winners of the award.

The real reason of why Alfred Nobel did not give the task of awarding the Peace Prize to a Swedish body is not known. Some speculations suggest different reasons, but the true reason is still a mystery. A number of these speculations include: Alfred Nobel admired the Norwegian author and patriot Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson; the Norwegian Parliament was the first national legislature to vote support for the international peace movement; or Nobel may have feared that the political nature of the Peace Prize would make it a tool in power politics.

Nominations

Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize are made by different qualified persons such as members of congresses, university professors, or international judges. The Committee keeps all nominations secret, and in return they ask that nominators to do the same.

The Nobel Peace Prize could be awarded to individuals or organizations who are working on peace-building issues, resolving a conflict or advocating for respect for human rights. It does not matter if their efforts have actually resolved a conflict. This has resulted in some criticism because the prize could be given to individuals who are engaged in ongoing peace processes even if they did not succeed in resolving a conflict. Awards given to individuals like Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt and Yasser Arafat were controversial and questionable. The Nobel Committee has received some criticism that their decisions are politically influenced and sometimes even bias.

However, many people have pointed out the uniqueness of the Peace Prize in that it can draw the world's attention to a certain cause or problem, which help in resolving it. Most of the peace prize laureates, whether individuals or organizations, have a long history of advocating and promoting humanitarian and human rights issues. A few examples include Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, International Committee of the Red Cross and Amnesty International.