WCC commends Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay
WCC commends Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay
msc
Fri, 10/09/2026 - 15:16
The World Council of Churches is commending the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Navanethem “ Navi ” Pillay for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
Image
The prize committee noted that she has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are prosecuted.
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. 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
She has served as a judge on the High Court in South Africa, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the International Criminal Court. She was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and, until recently, she chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Today…
