The winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced this Friday (10). This year, there are 338 nominees in total. Some world leaders nominated United States President Donald Trump for the award. The complete list of names will be stored in a safe for 50 years.
See below how the prize works:
The person nominating the prize is the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The group is made up of five individuals nominated by the Norwegian parliament, nominated by Norwegian political parties. Their appointments reflect the balance of power in the Norwegian parliament.
Who can win?
Who in the 1895 will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.
The will states that the award should be given to the person “who has done the most or best to promote friendship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.”
The more complex answer is that the award “needs to be placed in the current context”, according to Kristian Berg Harpviken, secretary of the award committee. He prepares the work for the body responsible for the award.
Harpviken participates in the deliberations but does not vote.
Who can nominate?
Thousands of people can propose names: members of governments and parliaments; current heads of state; university professors of history, social sciences, law and philosophy; and former Nobel Peace Prize laureates, among others.
This year there are 338
The complete list will be kept in a vault for 50 years, so only the names of the winners will be revealed.
How does the committee decide?
Nominations close on January 31st.
Committee members can make their own nominations until the first meeting in February.
They discuss all the nominations and then establish a shortlist.
Each nominee is then evaluated and vetted by a group of standing advisors and other experts.
The group meets approximately once a month to discuss nominations.
The committee seeks to reach consensus on its selection. If it fails, the decision is made by majority vote.
Who are the nominees?
Although the full list of nominations is kept secret, nominees are free to disclose it.
Among the names released this year are the International Criminal Court, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), jailed Hong Kong activist Chow Hang-tung and Canadian human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler.
Their nominations were made in the spring and summer, after the January 31st deadline, so they are not valid for the 2025 award.
Could Donald Trump win?
Only if Trump changes his policies, according to Nobel experts, who argue that he is currently dismantling the international world order that the Nobel committee
Instead, the committee may want to single out a humanitarian organization, journalists or a United Nations institution, they say.
Or they may cause a surprise.
What does the Nobel Prize winner get?
A medal, a diploma, 11 million Swedish kronor (US$1.19 million equivalent) and immediate global attention.
