How does the Nobel Peace Prize work? Everything you need to know ahead of the 2024 winner's announcement

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A view of the entrance of the Nobel Prize Museum in the building of the Swedish Academy ahead of the announcement of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature in Stockholm, Sweden. — Reuters pic

OSLO, Oct 11 — The winner of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced today in Oslo. Here is a look at how the award works:

Who can win?

According to the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, the prize should go to the person “who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses”.

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 286 nominees, although the full list will be locked in a vault for 50 years. Among the oddsmakers’ favourites this year is late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who died in detention in February. But that is not possible as he cannot receive the prize posthumously.

Another favourite at the bookmakers is Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy, but he is also unlikely because he is a wartime leader.

Who decides?

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which consists of five individuals appointed by the Norwegian parliament, is the arbiter. Members are often retired politicians, but not always. The current committee is led by the head of the Norwegian branch of PEN International, a group defending freedom of expression.

They are all put forward by Norwegian political parties and their appointments reflect the balance of power in Norway’s parliament.

How do they decide?

Nominations close on Jan 31. Members of the committee can make their own nominations no later than at the first meeting of the committee in February.

They discuss all the nominations, then establish a shortlist. Each nominee is then assessed and examined by a group of permanent advisers and other experts.

The committee meets roughly once a month to discuss the nominations. They usually make their decision at the final committee meeting, which tends to be at the beginning of October.

The committee seeks a consensus on its selection. If it cannot, the decision is reached by majority vote.

The last time a member quit in protest was in 1994, when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat shared the prize with Israel’s Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin.

Who is nominated?

While the full list of nominations is kept secret, nominators are free to disclose them.

Among the names that have been disclosed this year are the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, Pope Francis and British naturalist David Attenborough.

Experts who follow the award say this year’s prize may highlight the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), the International Court of Justice and U.N. chief Antonio Guterres.

What does the Laureate get?

A medal, a diploma, 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million) and immediate global attention.

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the 1984 winner, said becoming a Nobel laureate was a double-edged sword.

“One day no one was listening. The next, I was an oracle,” he is quoted as saying in his authorised biography.

When are the announcement and the ceremony?

The announcement will be made at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo by the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Joergen Watne Frydnes.

The ceremony will take place at the Oslo City Hall on Dec 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.