IDSN warmly congratulates Navi Pillay on being awarded the 2026 The Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote peace and international law. For IDSN, this is also a moment to celebrate her longstanding support for the work to end caste discrimination. As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, she met with Dalit human rights defenders on several occasions and called on the international community to act against caste discrimination.

In her 2009 opinion piece, “Tearing down the wall of caste”, she wrote:

“Caste is the very negation of the human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination.”

She opened the piece with a brick presented to her by representatives of caste-affected communities, taken from a demolished dry latrine. It symbolised their struggle to end manual scavenging and the caste discrimination that forces people into this work.

Pillay’s message remains essential: communities affected by caste discrimination must participate fully in shaping, implementing and evaluating the strategies intended to secure their rights.

Today, we celebrate her recognition and share her call for international solidarity with those working to tear down the barriers of caste.

Read and share her opinion piece: Tearing down the wall of caste

Read her statement at the UN Human Rights Council on #CasteGenderJustice