This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo for its efforts in supporting victims of nuclear bombings and striving for a world free of nuclear weapons.
According to international news agencies, the anti-nuclear group Nihon Hidankyo was founded in 1956 by Hibakusha, a group formed to aid the survivors of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. The full name of the organization is Nihon Gensuibaku Higaisha Dantai Kyogi-kai, but it is commonly referred to as Nihon Hidankyo.
The main goal of this organization has been to pressure the Japanese government to provide rehabilitation and care for the atomic bomb victims and to lobby governments for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
The Nobel Committee awarded Nihon Hidankyo the 2024 Peace Prize for its efforts “to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and to prevent their future use by presenting the survivors of the atomic bombings as witnesses to its horrors.”
It is noteworthy that the prize carries a monetary award of 11 million Swedish Krona (approximately $1.1 million), and the winners will receive a certificate and a gold medal on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
Last year, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Iranian women’s rights lawyer Narges Mohammadi for her courageous struggle against oppression of women and her tireless efforts for social reforms in Iran.
The United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), the International Court of Justice, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres were among the frontrunners for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
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