Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, the 85-year-old winner of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, has spent six decades working in international law and human rights.

She became a lawyer in 1967, during apartheid-era South Africa, and went on to become the first Black woman appointed to South Africa’s High Court.

She served as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court. From 2008 to 2014, she was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

She co-founded Equality Now, a group campaigning for women’s and girls’ rights. She later chaired the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Pillay now sits ad hoc on the International Court of Justice in Myanmar’s genocide trial. The Nobel committee said she had led the way to “a more comprehensive global legal order” and ensured war crimes and genocide are prosecuted.

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the peace prize. The prize money is 12 million Swedish kronor.