Navi Pillay, an 85-year-old South African judge and former UN human rights chief, has won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee recognised her efforts to promote peace and international law, which sets rules for relations between countries. Her long career has included work concerning human rights abuses in Rwanda and Gaza.
Pillay grew up in a poor Indian community in Durban during apartheid, a system that separated people by race. Her father was a bus driver. She became a lawyer and defended people who opposed apartheid. Later, she served as a judge at the international court dealing with Rwanda's 1994 genocide, the mass killing of a group of people.
Pillay learned about her award at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg and initially thought it must be a joke. She dedicated the prize to survivors of international crimes and those working for justice. She is South Africa's fifth Nobel Peace Prize winner, following earlier winners including Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
