Nobel committee chairman Gunnar Berge announced today at 11 a.m. in Oslo that the United Nations and General Secretary Kofi Annan shares the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. They are chosen "for their work for a better organised and more peaceful world".

In his press statement, Gunnar Berge said that the UN was in the forefront of efforts to achieve peace and security in the world, and of the international mobilisation aimed at meeting the world's economic, social and environmental challenges. Kofi Annan shares the prize for devoting almost his entire life to this work in the UN, and bringing new life to the organisation.

There were 136 nominees to the Peace Prize this year.