The Japanese institution Nihon Hidankyo received the Nobel Peace Prize this year. The organization known as “Hibakusha” is a Japanese organization representing survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The name of the winning institution was announced from the Norwegian capital Oslo Nobel Institute on Friday (October 11) at 3 pm Bangladesh time.
Nihon Hidankyo received the honor “for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again,” said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo.
Al-Jazeera reports that The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it wanted to “honor all atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki who, despite physical suffering and painful memories, have chosen to use their costly experience to cultivate hope and engagement for peace”.
“They help us to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons,” the Nobel Prize committee said.
“The extraordinary efforts of Nihon Hidankyo and other representatives of the Hibakusha have contributed greatly to the establishment of the nuclear taboo. It is therefore alarming that today this taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure,” it said.
Nuclear powers are modernizing and upgrading their arsenals, new countries appear to be preparing to acquire nuclear weapons and threats are being made to use nuclear weapons in ongoing warfare. “At this moment in human history, it is worth reminding ourselves what nuclear weapons are: the most destructive weapons the world has ever seen.”
This year the International Court of Justice (ICJ), United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and UN chief Antonio Guterres are being nominated for the award.
The award announcement is broadcast live on NobelPrize.org and the official channels of the Nobel Prize on Facebook, X, and YouTube.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute registered a total of 286 candidates for this year’s Peace Prize, including 197 individuals and 89 organizations.
The Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded in the Norwegian capital – the others are announced in Stockholm.
Mentioned that Narges Mohammadi, a jailed Iranian women’s rights advocate, won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous struggle against the oppression of women in Iran and relentless fight for social reform.