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By Lianne Kolirin, CNN
After 18 turbulent months spent battling the global Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) is widely regarded as the frontrunner to make this year’s decision. Nobel Prize of Peace.
The United Nations agency, which heads the COVAX vaccine sharing program, is certainly the choice of bookmakers for the prestigious distinction. UK companies Betfair and William Hill both rank WHO as the favorite for odds of winning, with odds of 5/4 and 6/4 respectively.
Although also a favorite in 2020, WHO lost last year to the World Food Program, another United Nations body that helped nearly 100 million people in 88 countries in 2019.
Other potential winners proposed by bookmakers include jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Each year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee rewards an individual or an organization for their outstanding efforts and actions in promoting peace. Of this year’s 329 nominees, 234 are individuals, while 95 are organizations. By the rules, their names are fiercely guarded and they can only be identified 50 years after the winner is announced.
This year’s winner will be announced on October 8 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo.
When Swedish businessman Alfred Nobel died in 1896, he left behind one of the world’s greatest private fortunes. According to his will, he wanted money to finance “prizes to those who, during the previous year, have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”
These, according to his will, were to be awarded in physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, literature and peace. The Nobel Peace Prize, according to the will, should be awarded “to the person who has done the most or the best work for brotherhood among nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the training and extension peace congresses ”.
WHO “remains controversial”
However, not everyone agrees that the WHO will be rewarded. Dan Smith, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, told CNN he would be “surprised” if the agency – which former US President Donald Trump accused of being too close to China – was chosen, “because its role remains controversial.” Smith also doesn’t expect the prize to go to scientific teams engaged in vaccine research, as there is a Nobel Prize in medicine.
He said there were no “peacemakers and mediators who are obvious choices” because 2021 was “not a good year for peace or peacemaking”.
Instead, he listed three main issues “that could draw attention to them”: human rights, media freedom and climate change.
“Freedom from media organizations or a very exceptional journalist (or both in combination) might be a good choice,” Smith told CNN. “But I would rank climate change before that because of its topicality: another record year for floods, fires and melting polar ice, plus the convening of COP26, starting three weeks after the award was announced and ending. finishing two to three weeks before the award. ceremony.”
He added: “So I think the most likely and also the most desirable prospect is to bestow this honor on young climate change activists (including Greta Thunberg but among a host of recipients) around the world.”
In his role as director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Henrik Urdal publishes an annual list of those he believes are the most deserving laureates.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in the lead Urdal’s advice This year. Explaining his choice, Urdal writes on the PRIO website that the January 6 Capitol riots highlighted “the power and danger of disinformation”.
He adds: “An award emphasizing the importance of ensuring public access to reliable information would therefore be an award for those working to protect a cornerstone of peaceful conflict resolution.
“A worthy recipient of such an award would be Reporters Without Borders (RSF). An international observatory based in France, RSF has carried out important campaign work for better regulation of the dissemination of journalistic content by online platforms, urging platforms to take measures to promote trustworthy reporting ”, he added. he continued.
Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is Urdal’s second choice, “both for her concrete role in the campaign for democracy in Belarus and as a leading figure in the pro-democracy movement in Belarus.”
Also highlighting the climate crisis, Urdal points to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its executive secretary Patricia Espinosa.
B’Tselem and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) are also highlighted by Urdal for their “important work in documenting and disseminating information on human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” .
Urdal’s final joint selection aims to “highlight pro-democracy efforts and human rights violations in China and its claimed territories,” with mention of imprisoned Uyghur activist Ilham Tohti and Nathan Law, a leading figure in the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
The awards ceremony will take place in December, with the winners receiving their medals and diplomas in their home country.
The-CNN-Wire
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