Nobel Peace Prize 2020 winner to be announced today - Here are the top picks for this year

The Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce the winner for this year's peace prize today&nbsp

New Delhi: The Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce the winner for this year's peace prize on Friday. Ahead of the announcement for the award, the World Health Organization is apparently a possible contender, while experts say climate activist Greta Thunberg or press freedom groups are also strong contenders.

There are 318 candidates for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, which is the fourth largest number in the history of the prize. However, they do not reveal the names of nominators nor of the nominees for Peace Prize before 50 years have passed. Names of nominated recipients are usually made public by their nominators.

Last year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali was awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. Abiy Ahmed was conferred with the prestigious award “for his initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea”.

In the run-up to the announcement, Greta Thunberg was bookies’ favourite to win the 2019 prize but experts were of the opinion that the Ethiopian PM or a representative of the free press could be the more likely winner.

Here are the top picks for this year

The World Health Organisation

In a year dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is a possible contender for the Nobel Peace Prize award. The WHO is an agency of the United Nations set up in 1948 to improve health globally. It has more than 7,000 people working in 150 country offices, six regional offices and its Geneva headquarters.

Greta Thunberg

For the second consecutive year, Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The Swedish parliamentarians nominated the 17-year-old for this year’s award for her pointed efforts to encourage young people to protest and demand effective climate action from lawmakers. She has been calling out lawmakers who are not taking a stand against climate change.

Jacinda Ardern

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ranked one of the top three candidates for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, according to the bookies. This comes after the PM's response to the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019 as well as her leadership towards eliminating Covid-19 in New Zealand.

Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has been nominated by two Scandinavian MPs; it is not known whether he is a candidate this year. President Trump seems to revel in the idea of being a Nobel laureate, given the number of tweets he has written about the possibility. But experts don't think that will happen.

Loujain al-Hathloul

A Saudi human right group yesterday announced that Loujain Al-Hathloul has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Al-Hathloul has been detained in the Kingdom for two years.

The Nobel Peace Prize is an international award given to one nominee who is considered to 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," according to Alfred Nobel