The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN ) has won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. ICAN is a coalition of non-governmental organizations from over 100 countries around the globe. It is based in Geneva.

It was found deserving of the Nobel by the Norwegian Nobel Committee “for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said that ICAN has played a leading role in the effort to achieve a prohibition of nuclear weapons under international law. In the wake of tensions between the United States and North Korea over nuclear programmes, the committee emphasized the need to free the world of nuclear weapons. It said the 2017 Peace Prize called upon nuclear-armed states to initiate negotiations to the gradual elimination of the world’s 15,000 nuclear weapons.

ICAN said in a statement on its Facebook page, “This award shines a needed light on the path the ban treaty provides towards a world free of nuclear weapons. Before it is too late, we must take that path. This is a time of great global tension, when fiery rhetoric could all too easily lead us, inexorably, to unspeakable horror. The spectre of nuclear conflict looms large once more. If ever there were a moment for nations to declare their unequivocal opposition to nuclear weapons, that moment is now.”