By Chris Houston
On October 10, María Corina Machado won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. Machado has been a key figure in uniting the once-fractured opposition parties in Venezuela. The Nobel Committee praised Machado for “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
While announcing the winner, Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes discussed rising authoritarianism and militarism. He noted the increasing trend of nations abusing the rule of law, free media being silenced, and critics of governments being imprisoned.
A journalist at the event asked Frydnes about Donald Trump, who had been touting himself as a suitable candidate for the prize. The day prior, BBC News credited Trump for securing a deal in the Israeli-Gaza war, a deal that would see a ceasefire and the return of Israeli hostages. But the Nobel Institute gives out peace prizes, not ceasefire prizes.
Peace is more than a ceasefire or a break in hostilities. Peace is freedom, democracy, and respect for human rights. Peace is well-functioning hospitals, food on tables, roofs over heads, and children being able to go to school and play outside without fear. A ceasefire in Gaza is needed. And a lasting peace is also needed.
Some 338 people and organizations were nominated for the prize in 2025. The committee has a difficult job. There were many wonderful candidates. In January, the Peace Research Institute Oslo identified Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms as a suitable contender for the peace prize. PRIO’s other suggestions were the Prime Minister of Qatar; OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights & The Carter Center; the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; and the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
The Sudanese suggestion was compelling. The world’s biggest humanitarian crisis doesn’t get sufficient media attention or international aid. Sudan has been gripped by war since April 2023 and civilians are facing the brunt of the violence. Civilians are also leading the humanitarian effort. Emergency Response Rooms, also known as ERRs, provide food and healthcare. A form of mutual aid, they are supported by local and diaspora communities who send funds to keep the critical services running. Last month, Sudan’s ERRs won the Rafto Prize, a human rights award from Norway’s Rafto Foundation for Human Rights.
Throughout the world’s largest humanitarian emergencies, it’s local communities that are saving lives and reducing suffering. Palestinian journalists and humanitarians were also fine candidates for the peace prize. Reporters in Gaza put their lives on the line daily. In August, the UN Human Rights Office reported that at least “247 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza” since October 7, 2023. On Oct 9, 2025 the UN reported that at least 565 humanitarian workers had been killed in Gaza in the same timeframe.
The most recent two winners of the Nobel Peace Prize were Narges Mohammadi and Nihon Hidankyo. Narges Mohammadi is an Iranian human rights activist, who was imprisoned for running a human rights group that campaigns against the death penalty. Nihon Hidankyo is a Japanese organization that represents the survivors of the U.S. nuclear attacks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This year’s winner, María Corina Machado, was the 112th individual to win the prize, and the 20th woman to win the prize. Women have been under-represented among the laureates. In 2005, a team led by Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold nominated 1,000 women for the prize.
I look forward to times when local communities have no wars to respond to, when opposition leaders need not fear for their safety, and when nuclear disarmament activists succeed and retire. Until then, I’m grateful to those pushing for peace, and am humbled by those who put their lives on the line to do so.
Chris Houston, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is the President of the Canadian Peace Museum non-profit organization.
