Janjivan Bureau / Oslo : The Geneva-based organisation ICAN was awarded “for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, and for its groundbreaking efforts to achieve a treaty based prohibition on such weapons”, Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairman of the Nobel Committee, announced on Friday.
“We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time,” she said.
“Some states are modernising their nuclear arsenal, and there is real danger that more countries will try to procure nuclear weapons as exemplified by North Korea.”
Reiss-Andersen said that nuclear weapons continued to pose a threat to the world, as no binding international agreement has been reached up to the present.
Through ICAN’s work, she said, the campaign has “helped fill the legal gap”.
“An important argument in the rationale for prohibiting nuclear weapons is the unacceptable human suffering that nuclear weapons will cause.”
The committee sorted through more than 300 nominations for this year’s award, which recognises both accomplishments and intentions.
The prize announcement in the Norwegian capital, culminated a week in which Nobel laureates have been named in medicine, physics, chemistry and literature.
The Nobel committee does not release names of those it considers for the prize, but said 215 individuals and 103 organisations were nominated for this year.
Others who were reportedly nominated were the Syrian volunteer humanitarian organisation White Helmets, Pope Francis, along with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini for shepherding the deal to curb Iran’s nuclear programme.
