The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is currently working to destroy Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.
The Nobel Committee made the announcement Friday in Oslo, recognizing the OPCW for "its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons."
OPCW Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu called the prize a great honor.
"We are a small organization which for over 16 years and away from the glare of international publicity has shouldered an onerous but noble task to act as the guardian of the global ban on chemical weapons."
The Hague-based organization was formed in 1997 to enforce the International Chemical Weapons Convention.
The Nobel Committee said in a statement Friday that the work of the OPCW has helped define the use of chemical weapons "as taboo under international law." It said recent events in Syria, where chemical weapons were recently used on civilians,"have underlined the need to enhance the efforts to do away with such weapons."
Syria has acknowledged having chemical weapons and is set to become a member state of the OPCW on Monday.
The OPCW is funded by its member states and has a budget of some $100 million. It employs about 500 people at its headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. It says it has conducted more than 5,000 inspections in 86 countries, with 100 percent of the declared chemical weapons stockpiles inventoried and verified.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry praised the selection of the OPCW, saying that it has taken "extraordinary steps" in Syria to address a "blatant violation of international norms."
This year's selection was considered a surprise. Malala Yousafzai, a 16-year-old activist for Pakistani women's education, was seen as a favorite to win the award. On Thursday she won the European Union's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
Past Nobel Peace laureates include the European Union, U.S. President Barack Obama, Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and Polish trade union organizer Lech Walesa.
Prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the will of inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel.
The Nobel Committee made the announcement Friday in Oslo, recognizing the OPCW for "its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons."
OPCW Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu called the prize a great honor.
"We are a small organization which for over 16 years and away from the glare of international publicity has shouldered an onerous but noble task to act as the guardian of the global ban on chemical weapons."
The Hague-based organization was formed in 1997 to enforce the International Chemical Weapons Convention.
The Nobel Committee said in a statement Friday that the work of the OPCW has helped define the use of chemical weapons "as taboo under international law." It said recent events in Syria, where chemical weapons were recently used on civilians,"have underlined the need to enhance the efforts to do away with such weapons."
Syria has acknowledged having chemical weapons and is set to become a member state of the OPCW on Monday.
The OPCW is funded by its member states and has a budget of some $100 million. It employs about 500 people at its headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. It says it has conducted more than 5,000 inspections in 86 countries, with 100 percent of the declared chemical weapons stockpiles inventoried and verified.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry praised the selection of the OPCW, saying that it has taken "extraordinary steps" in Syria to address a "blatant violation of international norms."
This year's selection was considered a surprise. Malala Yousafzai, a 16-year-old activist for Pakistani women's education, was seen as a favorite to win the award. On Thursday she won the European Union's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
Past Nobel Peace laureates include the European Union, U.S. President Barack Obama, Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and Polish trade union organizer Lech Walesa.
Prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the will of inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel.