UN agencies Nobel Peace Prize entries form a recurring theme in any reading of multilateral institutions, and one fact runs against the assumption that all major UN bodies have received the honour an equal number of times. Only one UN agency has won the Nobel Peace Prize on two separate occasions: the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, awarded in 1954 and again in 1981.
This article walks through which UN bodies have received the prize, in which years, and for what work. It also distinguishes between the UN as an organisation and individuals like Kofi Annan or Dag Hammarskjöld who received the prize in their personal capacity. The distinction matters for accurate citation of who has won what.
UNHCR: The Only Two-Time UN Agency Winner
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954 for its pioneering work on behalf of refugees in Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War. The agency was barely three years old at the time. UNHCR had been established in December 1950 with an initial three-year mandate to help resettle European refugees displaced by the war and its aftermath.
The 1954 prize cemented UNHCR’s identity as the principal global agency for refugee protection. Its mandate was extended repeatedly, and what was intended as a temporary office became one of the most enduring institutions in the UN system.
UNHCR received the Nobel Peace Prize a second time in 1981 for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee described as decades of work on behalf of millions of refugees in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The 1970s had brought waves of displacement from Vietnam, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. UNHCR’s response, often under difficult political conditions, was recognised again.
No other UN agency has matched this twice-honoured status.
UNICEF: The 1965 Prize
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 for its work on behalf of children worldwide. UNICEF had been founded in 1946 as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, initially to assist children in countries devastated by the war. By 1953 its mandate was made permanent and the word “emergency” was dropped from its working name, though the acronym remained.
The 1965 award recognised UNICEF’s expansion from emergency relief into long-term work on child nutrition, immunisation, health and education in developing countries.
ILO: The 1969 Prize
The International Labour Organization (ILO) received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969, on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary. The ILO is unusual in the UN family because it predates the United Nations itself, having been established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles as part of the League of Nations system. It became a specialised agency of the UN in 1946.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognised the ILO for creating international legislation on working conditions over the course of fifty years. The ILO’s tripartite structure (governments, employers, workers) and its body of conventions on labour rights remain unique in international law.
WFP: The 2020 Prize
The World Food Programme (WFP) received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020. The committee cited its efforts to combat hunger, its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas, and its role in preventing the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.
The 2020 award came in the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, when food insecurity sharpened sharply in conflict zones from Yemen to South Sudan. WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation addressing hunger, delivering food assistance to over 100 million people each year.
Other UN-Linked Nobel Peace Prizes
Several other prizes have gone to UN bodies, programmes or individuals.
- 1961: Dag Hammarskjöld, second Secretary-General of the UN (posthumous)
- 1988: United Nations Peacekeeping Forces
- 2001: The United Nations and Kofi Annan, jointly
- 2005: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Mohamed ElBaradei, jointly
- 2007: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore, jointly
- 2013: Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
Some of these are organisations within or affiliated to the UN system. The IAEA and OPCW are autonomous treaty-based bodies that report to the UN General Assembly. The IPCC is a body established by the WMO and UNEP. None of these has won the prize twice. Only UNHCR has.
Summary Table
| Agency | Nobel Prizes | Years |
|---|---|---|
| UNHCR | 2 | 1954, 1981 |
| UNICEF | 1 | 1965 |
| ILO | 1 | 1969 |
| WFP | 1 | 2020 |
| UN Peacekeeping Forces | 1 | 1988 |
| UN and Kofi Annan | 1 | 2001 |
| IAEA | 1 | 2005 |
| OPCW | 1 | 2013 |
Why UNHCR Stands Apart
The recurrence of refugee crises over decades, combined with the agency’s expansive interpretation of its mandate (extending from European post-war refugees to global displacement including internally displaced persons in many contexts), gave UNHCR a longevity and presence that justified the second prize. The 1981 citation explicitly noted the political obstacles UNHCR faced during the Cold War.
For broader context on UN agencies Nobel Peace Prize history, the fact that UNHCR is the only agency honoured twice is a useful anchor when reading about multilateral institutions. It also points to the structural reality that refugee protection has remained one of the most chronic and most demanding fields of international cooperation.
FAQs
Which UN agency has won the Nobel Peace Prize twice?
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the only UN agency to have won the Nobel Peace Prize twice, in 1954 and 1981.
Has UNICEF won the Nobel Peace Prize?
Yes. UNICEF won the Nobel Peace Prize once, in 1965, for its work on behalf of children worldwide.
When did the ILO win the Nobel Peace Prize?
The International Labour Organization received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969 on its fiftieth anniversary, for creating international legislation on working conditions.
When did the WFP win the Nobel Peace Prize?
The World Food Programme received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020 for its efforts to combat hunger and contribute to peace in conflict-affected areas.
Has the United Nations itself won the Nobel Peace Prize?
Yes. The United Nations and Secretary-General Kofi Annan were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. UN Peacekeeping Forces had earlier received the prize in 1988.
Has WHO won the Nobel Peace Prize?
No. The World Health Organization has not received the Nobel Peace Prize, despite its central role in global public health.
How many UN-affiliated bodies have won the Nobel Peace Prize in total?
Across UN agencies, programmes, peacekeeping forces, the UN as an organisation, and treaty-based bodies like IAEA and OPCW, the UN family has been honoured numerous times, but only UNHCR has won the prize twice.
Is the IPCC a UN agency?
The IPCC is an intergovernmental body established by the WMO and UNEP, both UN bodies, but it is not itself a UN specialised agency. It received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 jointly with Al Gore.
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