Watch CBS News

Nobel Peace Prize Given To Group Working On Banning Nukes

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

LONDON (CBSMiami) -- This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to group in Switzerland that's working towards a global ban on nuclear weapons.

ICAN - Nuclear Weapons
(From L) Nuclear disarmament group ICAN coordinator Daniel Hogstan, executive director Beatrice Fihn and her husband Will Fihn Ramsay pose with a banner bearing the group's logo after ICAN won the Nobel Peace Prize for its decade-long campaign to rid the world of the atomic bomb as nuclear-fuelled crises swirl over North Korea and Iran, on October 6, 2017 in Geneva. With the nuclear threat at its most acute in decades, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which on October 6 won the Nobel Peace Prize, is urgently pressing to consign the bomb to history. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

The award comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea and President Trump's criticism over Iran's nuclear program.

The award came as a surprise to the Geneva-based International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN.

"Really overwhelmed by all this, it's a huge honor," said ICAN Executive Director Beatrice Fihn.

For the past decade, ICAN activists have been trying to convince nuclear-armed nations to prohibit and eliminate their weapons programs.

"You can't threaten to indiscriminately slaughter hundreds of thousands of civilians in the name of security," said Fihn. "That's not how you build security, and it doesn't make us safer."

The award may send a signal to the U.S. and North Korea that negotiations over nuclear weapons are vital to avoid a humanitarian crisis.

ICAN - Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear disarmament group International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) executive director Beatrice Fihn (L) rects next to coordinator Daniel Hogstan (R) during a press conference after ICAN won the Nobel Peace Prize for its decade-long campaign to rid the world of the atomic bomb as nuclear-fuelled crises swirl over North Korea and Iran, on October 6, 2017 in Geneva. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

It's also a show of support for the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal which ICAN pushed for despite President Trump calling it an "embarrassment" and not in America's national interest.

ICAN's leader said the Trump presidency has put a spotlight on the risks of nuclear weapons.

"The election of President Donald Trump has made a lot of people feel very uncomfortable with the fact that he alone can authorize the use of nuclear weapons and there's nothing people can do to stop him," said Fihn.

The Nobel Prize committee said ICAN's work is needed now, more than ever, to eliminate nuclear weapons.

More than 300 nominees were up for this year's peace prize. Along with the honor, the Nobel committee awarded ICAN more than a million dollars.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.