The Nobel Peace Prize for all children: A new standard for our times
An initiative by the World Child Forum, published on 20 September 2025
The World Child Forum is making an extraordinary appeal to the global public: in 2026, all the children of Earth should be jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This initiative is more than a symbolic gesture – it calls for a fundamental shift in perspective at a time when our world stands at critical crossroads.
When Alfred Nobel established the Peace Prize in 1895, he did so out of regret for the destructive power of his dynamite. He hoped humanity could learn to resolve conflicts peacefully. Today we stand at a new threshold: Wars still tear our world apart, yet awareness grows that true peace requires more than silencing weapons. The destruction of our foundations for life forces us to rethink, but also sparks innovation. Artificial intelligence promises education for all – or threatens to deepen the divide between rich and poor. Each development proves double-edged, confronting us with the crucial question: By what values shall we shape our shared future?
And who better to find these answers with and for than the world's two billion people under the age of 18. The children of this world!
They are not a homogeneous group. They speak different languages, live in diverse cultures, have varied dreams and worries. It is precisely this diversity that makes them the perfect standard. For while traditional Nobel Prizes honour individuals for exceptional achievements – a model from a time when individuals could still write history alone – today both problems and, more importantly, solutions emerge through the collaboration of many.
The Nobel Peace Prize for all children would acknowledge this reality. Children are natural peacemakers. They do not seek conflict. You can send children to war, but they do not start wars. Anyone who puts children's wellbeing at the heart of their actions will always make peace. Because that is what children need. A peaceful world in which they can grow and develop.
In war, they are always the first to suffer. Yet they are also the first to offer hope again when conflicts end. Because through them we see a future again, for them reconstruction becomes worthwhile, and it is they who will do better and bring reconciliation. The Nobel Peace Prize for all children would not romanticise childhood, but would pose an existential question to us all: what kind of world do we want to build for children?
The numbers underscore the urgency: worldwide, 152 million children must work; instead of going to school, they contribute to household income. 244 million young people have no access to education, over 400 million live in conflict zones. Given these facts, the Nobel Prize would be both a global admission of our failure and a commitment by all adults to do better.
The World Child Forum – established since 2021 as a vibrant alternative to the World Economic Forum in Davos – is building a worldwide alliance by the end of 2025. Partners from civil society, education, business and the arts will jointly submit the nomination of all children for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.
The nomination alone will send a clear message: in a time when we create tools that can both liberate and limit, we need a new standard. A standard that isn't oriented towards power, profit or technical progress for its own sake, but towards the question: does it serve a world in which all children can unfold their potential?
The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for all children would not be an award for past achievements. It would be humanity's promise to itself – and the beginning of fulfilling that promise. Not least, this prize would make the childless Alfred Nobel, at least symbolically, the patron of all the world's children.
Warmly and with thanks to all supporters, to everyone
who carries this question forward.
Additional information
The story behind the question
Learn how this initiative came to be. Sometimes the most powerful ideas start with the simplest observations. Bernhard Hanel shares the personal story of how this initiative was born.
Context and facts
How does one nominate two billion people? What are the Nobel Peace Prize criteria? Learn about the process, the precedents, and the possibilities.
How ideas really travel - through people
Now that question needs voices like yours. At tables where you already gather. On walks where you already think. When you ask: "What if all children were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?" Share what stirs. Not because we asked you to. Because the question won't let you go.