2026 Nobel Peace Prize: Sudan Shortlisted for the Second Time
The director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Nina Greger, publishes a shortlist of candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize each year. She offers her opinion on the most prominent potential candidates, based on her independent assessment.
The winner of the 2026 prize will be announced at 11:00 AM Central European Time on Friday, October 9th. Notably, a Sudanese charity has appeared on the institute’s shortlist for the second time in two years: the Sudanese Emergency Rooms.
The list also includes Mykola Kuleba, Save the Children, the Sudanese Emergency Response Rooms, the World Trade Organization, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court.
With each name on the five-person shortlist, the director provided a detailed explanation of the nomination. The nomination of “Sudan Emergency Response Rooms” for the second time was based on “the armed conflict that erupted in Sudan in 2023, plunging the country into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Nearly a third of the population has been forcibly displaced since the conflict began. The international system has struggled to meet the enormous humanitarian needs, and these challenges have been exacerbated by reduced funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).”
The statement continues: “The decline in international support for relief operations in Sudan has prompted community-led volunteer relief networks to step in and provide life-saving services to millions of people. Among the most prominent of these initiatives are the Emergency Response Rooms, a vast network of local civic initiatives present in conflict zones and other areas where people are in need of humanitarian assistance. These networks have established communal kitchens, supported evacuations, provided medical care, repaired infrastructure, and delivered other services to communities. Operating within a decentralized structure, these groups provide essential humanitarian assistance in a highly complex conflict environment, with limited access to external resources and logistics. Volunteers often work in insecure areas and face threats of harassment and violence.”
The director added that “awarding this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to such a remarkable humanitarian initiative as the Emergency Response Rooms highlights the critical importance of providing life-saving assistance during times of conflict and the capacity of ordinary citizens to serve humanity in times of crisis.”