Former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay wins the Nobel Peace Prize

Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, a South African jurist and former UN high commissioner for human rights, has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.

Contenders this year included Pope Leo, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of ​Justice and Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor (£910,249).

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the prize in 2025 for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation.

She had not been seen in public since January of that year, when she led protests against then-president Nicolas Maduro, who had been re-elected, despite widely being considered a dictator.

She dedicated the prize to US President Donald Trump for "his decisive support of our cause".

In January this year, Ms Machado gave Mr Trump her Nobel medal shortly after Maduro was ousted, but it was largely symbolic, as the Nobel Committee has stated the honour itself cannot be transferred.

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(c) Sky News 2026: Former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay wins the Nobel Peace Prize