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

Axar.az reports, citing Sky News, that Pillay, born in South Africa, was recognised for her efforts to promote peace and international law, said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

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.

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

Last year, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation, winning recognition as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness”.