The list of the nominees for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize has been announced.
Nobel Peace Prize established by Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel is awarded annually to individuals or groups that worked towards the holding and promotion of peace around the world.
Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed won the 2020 edition for his efforts to resolve a long standing border conflict with neighbours Eritrea.
The recipient of the prize is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, a five-member committee appointed by the Parliament of Norway.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee does not comment on nominations.
The Nobel Committee announced that there are 210 individuals and 107 organizations vying for the prize.
Top contenders for the prize include:
1. Donald Trump
The former US president was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for facilitating a peace accord that ensured a peaceful relation between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2020. Some other Arab countries later joined the accord.
2. Greta Thunberg
The 18-year-old Swede is a climate change activist. She is the second youngest ever nominee for the prize after Malala Yousafzaiwas who won the prize for her human rights advocacy in Pakistan. Thunberg is popular for standing up against the inability of world leaders to take action against climate change.
3. Alexei Navalny
He is a Lawyer and Russian opposition leader that fearlessly staged protests against corruption and bad governance in his country. He has been arrested several times for his opposition of the government, especially through his social media handles.
4. World Health Organisation
The organisation was nominated for providing secure and easy access to COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries of the world through its COVAX programme.
5. Black Lives Matter
The organisation was nominated for awakening consciousness against inequality and promoting racial justice.
Some others on the list are Belarusian activists Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Maria Kolesnikova and Veronika Tsepkalo for their campaign against election fraud through peaceful resistance; Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights group; and IUSTITIA, a group of Polish judges defending civil rights; NATO, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) and a host of others.
The winner will be announced in October.
