The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2005 to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and to its Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei, for their work for a safer and more peaceful world. The Award was announced Friday.
"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2005 is to be shared, in two equal parts, between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei, 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 announcement said.
The Award Ceremonies take place in Oslo, Norway 10 December at the Oslo City Hall. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, whose five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget), is entrusted both with the preparatory work related to prize adjudication and with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Peace Prize is awarded annually at a ceremony on 10 December, the day on which Alfred Nobel died in 1896.
Bio
Dr. ElBaradei was born in Cairo, Egypt, on 17 June 1942, son of the late Mostafa ElBaradei, a lawyer and former President of the Egyptian Bar Association. He gained a Bachelor’s degree in Law in 1962 at the University of Cairo, and a Doctorate in International Law at the New York University School of Law in 1974. He is also the recipient of various honorary degrees.
He began his career in the Egyptian Diplomatic Service in 1964, serving on two occasions in the Permanent Missions of Egypt to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, in charge of political, legal and arms control issues. From 1974 to 1978 he was a special assistant to the Foreign Minister of Egypt. In 1980 he left the Diplomatic Service and became a senior fellow in charge of the International Law Program at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. From 1981 to 1987 he was also an Adjunct Professor of International Law at the New York University School of Law.
Dr. ElBaradei was from 1984 a senior member of the IAEA Secretariat, holding a number of high-level policy positions, including that of the Agency´s Legal Adviser and, beginning in 1993, Assistant Director General for External Relations. He was appointed to the head the IAEA effective 1 December 1997, and reappointed to a second term in September 2001. (source: IAEA)
