The Nobel Committee selected the IAEA and its Director General Mohamed ElBaradei as the recipients of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize “for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way”.
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2005
In its Award Ceremony Speech, the Nobel Committee said: "In the nuclear non-proliferation regime, it is the IAEA which controls that nuclear energy is not misused for military purposes, and the Director General has stood out as an unafraid advocate of new measures to strenghthen that regime."
"At a time when disarmament efforts appear deadlocked, when there is a danger that nuclear arms will spread both to states and to terrorist groups, and when nuclear power again appears to be playing an increasingly significant role, IAEA's work is of incalculable importance."
The IAEA has done a good job in a number of difficult contexts and under the leadership of Director General ElBaradei the agency strengthened its position, the Committee said. "Today's award is thus very much a tribute to Mohamed ElBaradei in person, but is also intended to recognize the 2300 staff from 90 countries who currently work for the IAEA, as well as the many who worked there before."
Mohamed ElBaradei: "We will continue to carry out our mandate with independence and objectivity."
The General Director of IAEA said in his Nobel Lecture that the agency will continue its hard work: "We are limited in our authority. We have a very modest budget. And we have no armies. But armed with the strength of our convictions, we will continue to speak truth to power. And we will continue to carry out our mandate with independence and objectivity. The Nobel Peace Prize is a powerful message for us - to endure in our efforts to work for security and development. A durable peace is not a single achievement, but an environment, a process and a commitment."
