MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Norwegian Nobel Committee selects a single or several winners of the prize each year, named after Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist and founder of the Nobel Awards.
According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize is awarded to a person who "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."
The general public has started to speculate about the possible nominees long before the secretive selection process and the announcement ceremony.
Among the likely contenders are reportedly Pope Francis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Mussie Zerai, an Eritrean Catholic priest and the founder of an organization that has helped rescue migrants in the Mediterranean, and Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist from the Democratic Republic of Congo specializing in treating victims of rape and sexual violence.
According to the Nobel Prize’s website, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 95 times to 128 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2014.
Last year's Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Indian child rights campaigner Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai.
The awards ceremony is held annually at the Oslo City Hall on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.
