The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded Friday, a ray of light in a dark year for world peace, with the International Court of Justice, UNRWA and UN chief Antonio Guterres seen as favourites.
In the final run-up to the announcement, Nobel-watchers are struggling to predict this year's laureate, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, famine in Sudan, and a collapsing climate painting a grim picture of world affairs.
A total of 286 candidates -- 197 individuals and 89 organisations -- are known to be on this year's list of nominees.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee keeps the candidates' names secret for 50 years, but those eligible to nominate are allowed to reveal who they have proposed.
The Norwegian Peace Council, an umbrella organisation of NGOs, predicts the prize will go to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), as the devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas, sparked by Hamas' October 7, 2023 attacks on Israeli soil, risks pushing the entire Middle East into full-scale war.
If this prediction were to prove accurate, the UN agency could possibly receive the prize together with its Swiss-Italian head Philippe Lazzarini.
Preserving World Order
Another way of addressing the Middle East conflict and Russia's offensive in Ukraine could be to honour the International Court of Justice (ICJ), tasked with resolving conflicts between countries in the courtroom rather than on the battlefield.
The UN's highest court, the ICJ, based in The Hague, has ordered Russia to cease its invasion of Ukraine and, earlier this year, ordered Israel to immediately halt its military operations in Rafah.
The orders were disregarded on the ground, but cranked up pressure on the two countries to respect international law.
Asle Sveen, a Nobel expert and historian, meanwhile said he thought the prize should go to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres of Portugal, possibly together with a UN agency.
No Prize?
Other possible winners are the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms and Afghan women's rights campaigner Mahbouba Seraj.
The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in Oslo on Friday at 11:00 am (0900 GMT).
With AFP
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