She was honoured “for her efforts to promote peace and international law”, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in a statement.
The committee said the award was going “to a person who with exceptional courage and integrity has led the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order,” noting that she “has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.”
A lifelong champion of human rights
Ms. Pillay served as the UN human rights chief from September 2008 through August 2014, but her career has spanned more than 50 years – from fighting apartheid in her homeland to defending civilians in conflict zones.
She is a former chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and was appointed a judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) — the UN’s highest court.
Navanethem “Navi” PIllay was born in South Africa to a Tamil Indian family and was the first non-white woman to establish a legal practice in the country.
As a lawyer, she acted as a defence attorney for anti-apartheid activists, exposing torture, and helping to establish key rights for prisoners on notorious Robben Island.
“A common thread runs from her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against apartheid to her service as a judge in some of the key international court cases of our time,” the Nobel Committee said.
Human rights reaffirmed: Türk
On receiving the news of Ms. Pillay’s honour, the current UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, warmly congratulated the woman he described as a big sister.
“To say it is well deserved is a total understatement, and especially at a time when human rights are under attack on so many fronts, including from those who wield enormous power, this award is particularly poignant,” he said, speaking in Geneva.
“It is an award to all those who around the world dedicate their lives to the defense of human rights, often at great risk to their security.”
Moreover, it is “a recognition, a reaffirmation, that human rights, the rule of law and justice and accountability are fundamental to everything – to peace, to security and prosperity,” he added.
Belief in international solidarity
In an October 2025 interview with UN News in Geneva, Ms. Pillay reflected on her lifetime of fighting for human rights, justice and equality.
“I didn’t think apartheid would end in my lifetime,” she recalled. “So, what happened? We had the collective support of people all over the world, even children. If we can achieve that, we can have a better human rights protection system.”
Her experience in the anti-apartheid struggle shaped her belief in international solidarity, which she carried into her role as a judge at the ITCR, which prosecuted persons responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. During her eight years there, she helped establish groundbreaking legal precedents in the fight against genocide and gender-based violence.
As UN human rights chief, Ms. Pillay continued to champion the participation of civil society and victims’ voices in shaping global human rights standards.
“When the UN started, it was just a club for the States,” she told UN News. “Everything we have today for human rights protection didn’t happen just because the States woke up one day. It comes from the pressure of civil society. That’s why I value these institutions.”
