In the absence of a clear frontrunner for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, discussions in Oslo have included several names, among them Sudan’s — the Emergency Response Rooms (ERR).
Lists from the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) cite Sudan’s ERR as among the “most deserving” candidates for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition of their life-saving responses during the war of 2023. Their work included distributing food, water, and medicine, evacuating civilians, and running communal food kitchens known as takyas, all within a decentralized volunteer network deeply rooted in local communities.
This momentum was reinforced by ERR’s win of the Norwegian Rafto Prize and public European commendations for the efforts of local volunteers. The Rafto Foundation described the ERR as groups consisting of thousands of volunteers engaged in cooperative community efforts to meet urgent humanitarian needs — exposing themselves to grave personal risks, including arrest, torture, beatings, and theft — without enjoying the protection afforded to official humanitarian workers.
From Resistance Committees to Nobel Contenders
Sudan’s ERR, also known as “Emergency Response Rooms,” is a grassroots initiative led by local communities that emerged from the (Resistance Committees) which spearheaded the 2019 uprising. They use WhatsApp groups for field coordination between teams operating in neighborhoods across conflict zones.
The need for ERR arose from the collapse of supply chains and the limited access of international organizations to conflict-affected areas. They filled vital gaps in water, electricity, healthcare, and evacuation services in Sudan.
Over the past two years, ERR has provided direct assistance to millions of Sudanese, including distributing food, water, and medicine; supplying hospitals with fuel and essential materials; repairing water points and communications networks; and running large-scale community kitchens (takyas) to feed massive numbers of displaced people and besieged residents.
The 2025 Nobel Race
This year, 338 individuals and organizations have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The 2024 prize went to Japan’s “Nihon Hidankyo,” a group of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in recognition of their struggle against nuclear weapons.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee held its final meeting on Monday, ahead of Friday’s scheduled announcement of the 2025 laureate. Halvard Leira, Research Director at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, noted that in recent years, “The Nobel Peace Prize committee has returned to focusing on more micro-level issues, closer to the classical ideas of peace, while keeping its ties to human rights, democracy, freedom of the press, and women’s rights.” He added, “My hunch is that this year we are likely to see a less controversial winner.”
Other Possibilities and Speculations
The committee could also choose to honor entities linked to international justice, such as the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court, or organizations active in press freedom, like the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) or Reporters Without Borders. As often happens, the prize could also go to a completely unexpected recipient outside the names being discussed.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his ambition to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Many observers, however, see this as unlikely this year for various reasons, despite his significant role in facilitating a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
As the world awaits the announcement, Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms stand as a powerful symbol of extraordinary local action in the face of the massive humanitarian catastrophe caused by the 2023 war — and perhaps as a new model for what peacebuilding can mean in times of collapse
