Navanethem ‘Navi’ Pillay Wins the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize

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Cleary is an editor at TIME, based in the London bureau.

Navi Pillay at a press conference in Geneva on June 18, 2025.

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Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, a South African jurist and former U.N. high commissioner for human rights, has been announced as the winner of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize 2026.

She has won “for her efforts to promote peace and international law,” said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

“Pillay’s commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral compass are constants in a long career. Born into a family of Indian Tamil origin under apartheid in Durban, South Africa, Pillay became a lawyer and legal pioneer, confronting deep structural discrimination, segregation and exclusion,” continued Frydnes. “A common thread runs from her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against apartheid to her service as a judge in some of the key international court cases of our time.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.