Nobel Peace Prize

Ralph Bunche received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s work as a United Nations mediator in the Palestine conflict. He called himself  'an incurable optimist'. Bunche was the first African American and person of color to be so honored in the history of the prize. 

The UNHCR "shows us that the unfortunate foreigner is one of us; it teaches us to understand that sympathy with other human beings, even if they are separated from us by national frontiers, is the foundation upon which a lasting peace must be built”.

“Dag Hammarskjöld was exposed to criticism and violent, unrestrained attacks” explained the Nobel Committee “but he never departed from the path he had chosen from the very first: the path that was to result in the UN's developing into an effective and constructive international organization."

Upon giving the prize, the Nobel Committee declared that “everyone has understood the language of UNICEF, and even the most reluctant person is bound to admit that in action UNICEF has proved that compassion knows no national boundaries".

The International Labour Organization was awarded the Peace Prize since it has done most to promote fraternity among nations by ensuring social justice, the Nobel Committee said. "Beneath the foundation stone of the ILO's main office in Geneva lies a document on which is written: 'Si vis pacem, cole justitiam. If you desire peace, cultivate justice'."

“The Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees has, in the opinion of the [Nobel] Committee, carried out work of major importance to assist refugees, despite the many political difficulties with which it has had to contend."

The Nobel Committee awarded the prize because “The peacekeeping forces of the United Nations have, under extremely difficult conditions, contributed to reducing tensions where an armistice has been negotiated but a peace treaty has yet to be established”.

The United Nations and its Secretary-General Kofi Annan have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world”. 

The Nobel Committee selected the IAEA and its Director General Mohamed ElBaradei as the recipients of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize due to “their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way”.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr. have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."