The winner of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, October 11, at 12:00 GMT at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo.

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

This year’s favorites

This year there are 286 candidates, although the list of their names has remained secret for 50 years.

However, persons submitting proposals have the right to disclose their choices.

Among the names that have come up this year are the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Court of Justice and UN chief Antonio Guterres, who are also considered favorites for this year’s prize.

Among this year’s bookmakers’ favorites is still Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison colony in February. But this is not possible, because no one is rewarded after death.

Another favorite is Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, who is also unlikely to win because he is the leader of a warring state.

Who can be honored with the award?

The prize should be awarded to the person who has made the greatest contribution to “fraternization among nations, the abolition or reduction of existing military forces and the establishment and promotion of peaceful assemblies,” according to the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who established the prizes.

Thousands of people can nominate names: members of governments and parliaments, sitting heads of state, university professors of History, Social Sciences, Law and Philosophy, and past Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

Who decides?

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, made up of five people appointed by the Norwegian parliament, decides who will be awarded. Members are often persons who have retired from active politics, without this being the rule. This year, this committee is chaired by the head of the Norwegian branch of PEN International, an organization that defends freedom of expression.

All these persons are nominated by Norwegian political parties and their appointment reflects the balance of power in the Norwegian parliament.

How the winner is decided

Nominations close on January 31. Committee members have the opportunity to submit their own proposals until the first committee meeting in February.

They discuss all the nominations and then draw up a list of the best ones. Each candidate is then assessed and reviewed by a panel of resident advisors and other experts.

The committee meets approximately once a month to discuss nominations. They usually make their decision at the last committee meeting, which tends to be in early October.

The committee seeks consensus on the final selection. If this is not possible, the decision is taken by a majority of the members.

The last time a member resigned in protest was in 1994, when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat shared the award with Israelis Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin.

What does the prize include?

A medal, a diploma, 11 million Swedish kroner ($1.1 million) – and of course the attention of the entire planet.