Nobel Prize: Japanese anti-nuclear group wins 2024 prize

The Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to achieve a world free from nuclear weapons.

The Japanese anti-nuclear organization Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki — also known as the Hibakusha — has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

The aging survivors of the two nuclear detonations, known as "hibakusha," continue to campaign for a nuclear arms ban as they push to keep alive their efforts among younger generations.

What the Nobel Committee said

Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the award was made as the "taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure."

Frydnes said the award was made to the group "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again."

"This year's prize is a prize that focuses on the necessity of upholding this nuclear taboo. And we have all a responsibility, particularly the nuclear powers," Frydnes told reporters.

The committee "wishes to honor all survivors who, despite physical suffering and painful memories, have chosen to use their costly experience to cultivate hope and engagement for peace."

As it made the announcement, the committee warned of growing concerns as "new countries appear to be prepared to acquire nuclear weapons."

In total, 286 candidates were nominated for this year's prize, including 197 individuals and 89 organizations.

The prize was awarded in Oslo, the only one of the Nobel prizes not to be awarded in Stockholm.

It was announced against a backdrop of devastating conflicts, notably in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.

Notable Nobel Peace laureates include imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, who was awarded the prize last year, and human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights group Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties, who were collectively awarded the prize in 2022.

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rc/rmt (AFP, dpa)