By Admin 
The Nobel Peace Prize 2025 has been announced. This year’s award has been given to Maria Corina Machado, known as the ‘Iron Lady’ of Venezuela, for her tireless efforts to promote the democratic rights of the people. For the past year, Maria Corina Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite not caring about her life, she remained steadfast in her work. Before this, the list of Nobel Peace Prize winners includes the names of people like jailed Iranian human rights activist Nargis Mohammadi (2023), Dalai Lama (1989) and Martin Luther King (1964). US President Donald Trump has not received the Nobel Peace Prize. This year, Zelensky, a group of journalists and Baloch activist Mehrang Baloch and other 10 big names were included in this list.
Among the main contenders this year was the Emergency Response Room (ERR), as ERR is a network of more than 700 community-based organizations in Sudan that provide services that are usually undertaken by the government. ERR volunteers provide medical aid and run community kitchens in a country devastated by a brutal two-year war between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Volodymyr Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has become a symbol of resistance to Russian aggression and was seen as a credible peace prize winner for 2022. Zelensky has managed to garner more support for his crisis-hit country after Trump-initiated peace talks between Kiev and Moscow stalled.
Reporters Without Borders
In 2021, the Nobel Committee honored Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, founder of investigative media outlet Rappler, and Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, for protecting the press. Given the risks of covering the ongoing wars in the Gaza Strip and threats to the free press globally, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in September that at least 210 journalists had been killed in the Palestinian territory during Israeli military operations over the past two years. RSF was also in the race for this award.
Mehrang Baloch
Mehrang Baloch is one of Pakistan’s most famous human rights activists and has been condemning the kidnappings and killings of Baloch in Balochistan province for years. He has been kept in jail in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, since March. Authorities have charged him with terrorism, treason and murder.
The ICC, which is currently facing sanctions from Washington, was also expected to get symbolic support from the Nobel Committee. The US sanctions stem from arrest warrants issued against two Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for crimes against humanity and a court investigation into alleged war crimes by US forces in Afghanistan.
Yulia Navalnaya
Yulia Navalnya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has vowed to carry forward her husband’s mission. Her husband died under suspicious circumstances in February 2024 in a Russian penal colony in the Arctic Circle. In June he launched a new television channel called “Future of Russia” to counter Kremlin propaganda.
Lawyer and human rights activist Chow Hang-tung is one of the leading opponents of Chinese rule in Hong Kong. She was vice-chair of the Hong Kong Alliance group, which organized an annual ceremony commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989. In 2021, the group announced its dissolution due to pressure from Beijing. Chau has been arrested several times since 2021. Under the new national security law, if he is found guilty of inciting subversion of state power, he could be jailed for up to 10 years.
Standing Together, an Israeli-Palestinian peace organization founded in 2015, has 5,300 members. It opposes settlement construction in the West Bank and campaigns for equality between Israelis and Palestinians. Since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023, its activists have taken a leading role in protesting the war in Gaza.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who is currently the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, played a key role in brokering a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in January. Qatar has also helped in talks between America and Taliban. In recent years he has established himself as a leading mediator in various conflicts, including Lebanon, Sudan and Yemen.
The chances of NATO getting the Nobel were slim, because giving this award to NATO would have reinforced the perception that the Nobel Committee had a Western outlook. In recent years the Committee has taken this criticism seriously and has adopted a more open approach towards laureates from the Global South.
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