The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2005 to Dr ElBaradei and the IAEA.
16/05/2007 :: In its announcement the Nobel Committee states that “the Nobel Peace Prize for 2005 is to be shared, in two equal parts, between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei, for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way. At a time when the threat of nuclear arms is again increasing, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to underline that this threat must be met through the broadest possible international cooperation. This principle finds its clearest expression today in the work of the IAEA and its Director General.”
- “The award of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Dr Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) highlights one of the most serious security challenges facing the world today. The Peace Prize is an important signal of the importance the Nobel Committee attaches to these issues” said the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen. "The award of the Peace Prize to Dr ElBaradei and the IAEA is also important to the work Norway is doing to promote nuclear disarmament efforts and strengthen the international non-proliferation regime. I am confident that Norway and the IAEA together can achieve a great deal in this area,” said Mr Petersen.
Alfred Nobel was an inventor and industrial magnate. In his last will, he decided that his enormous fortune would be used for the Nobel Prizes for literature, chemistry, physics, medicine and the most prestigious of them all, the Peace Prize.
Each year on 10 December, the date of Alfred Nobel’s death, the Peace Prize is awarded at the Oslo City Hall. The prize was first awarded in Norway in 1901. The winner is presented with a gold medal, a diploma and monetary award. In 2004 the prize was SEK 10 million.
This year there were 199 candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize. This is the largest number of candidates ever to be nominated.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs