October 6, 2017
The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize (click here) has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, a global organization seeking to "outlaw and eliminate all nuclear weapons" under international law.
The prize was announced in Oslo, Norway, on Friday morning. The committee praised ICAN for drawing attention to "the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons" and for "ground-breaking efforts" to ratify a treaty banning nuclear weapons.
Specifically, ICAN promotes the U.N.'s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a legally binding prohibition on nuclear weapons that is supported by over 100 countries.
The world's nuclear powers have not committed to the treaty.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee noted that any actual nuclear disarmament will depend on the participation of nuclear states, but praised ICAN's "inspiring and innovative support" for international negotiations....
