Former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay wins the Nobel Peace Prize

Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, a South African jurist and former UN high commissioner for human rights, has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.

Born in South Africa, Pillay, 85, was recognised for her efforts to promote peace and international law, said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

"At a time when the number of wars and conflicts is rising, and when judges and institutions of international law are under political attack, the Nobel Committee wishes to issue a reminder that the ability to resolve conflicts without force or violence is dependent on the international rule of law," the committee wrote in a news release.

"An international legal system in which war criminals are held to account and the victims of abuse see justice served is a precondition for a peaceful world."

"A common thread runs from her early work defending ​Nelson Mandela and others who stood ​up against apartheid to her service as ⁠a judge in some of the key ​international court cases of our time," the committee ​said.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo received nominations for 287 candidates for this year's prize, and just over a quarter of them were organisations.

The prize money is 12 million Swedish kronor (£910,249).

Contenders for the prize this year included Pope Leo, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of ​Justice and Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the prize in 2025 for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation.

She had not been seen in public since January of that year, when she led protests against then-president Nicolas Maduro, who had been re-elected, despite widely being considered a dictator.

She dedicated the prize to US President Donald Trump for "his decisive support of our cause".

In January this year, Ms Machado gave Mr Trump her Nobel medal shortly after Maduro was ousted, but it was largely symbolic, as the Nobel Committee has stated the honour itself cannot be transferred.

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(c) Sky News 2026: Former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay wins the Nobel Peace Prize