The 'heavyweights' candidates for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize

Pope Francis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is among the names considered as the brightest candidate for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, which will be announced this afternoon 6 October.

1. Pope Francis

Since becoming Pope in 2013, Pope Francis has been evaluated by analysts as the brightest candidate in this year's race. In the past 12 months, Pope Francis has repeatedly made efforts to call for support for immigrants and refugees, as well as to make progressive views on other issues. In 2013, Pope Francis was voted by the magazine TIME as the character of the year.

Pope Francis and German Prime Minister Angele Merkel.(Photo: Getty).

2. German Chancellor Angela Merkel

With an open policy for migrants during the migration crisis in Europe, Chancellor Angela Merkel has always been a highly rated candidate in the Nobel Peace Prize list. This year, Merkel is determined to protect the controversial immigration policy, despite negative impacts on her party during the recent German parliamentary elections. In 2015, Merkel was chosen by the magazine TIME as the character of the year.

3. White Helmets civil defense force

The White Helmets in Syria were once highly rated in the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize election, but "lost" to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. This civil defense force is a voluntary organization committed to protecting civilians from the effects of conflict in Syria. Since the conflict in the Middle East in 2011, White Helmets said it had saved 99,000 people.

4. EU senior representative Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad

EU senior security and foreign policy representative, Ms. Federica Mogherini, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are the two 'chief engineers' in the historic nuclear deal between Iran and the great powers. Under the nuclear agreement reached in 2015, Iran will limit uranium enrichment activities in exchange for lifting international sanctions.

5. ECOWAS

Another candidate who is likely to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year is the West African Economic Community (ECOWAS), with achievements that have helped Gambia secure security during the transition of power at this African country. Earlier, the outgoing President Gambia Yahya Jammeh left the country to end the six-week political crisis.

In addition to these "heavyweight" candidates, there are a number of other candidates mentioned by analysts such as: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Congolese doctor - Mr. Denis Mukwege, or American Civil Liberties Federation (ACLU).

How was the Nobel Peace Prize selected?

Qualified nominees around the world (those who received the Nobel Peace Prize, MPs, university professors, international judges, special advisors of the Norwegian Nobel Committee) can nominate candidates to 1/2 day of that year.

All nominations will be selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee - with five members of the Norwegian parliament - considering before a shortlist of 20-30 candidates is filtered out.

A group of Norwegian and international advisors write their own reviews of the shortlisted candidates. Through these reviews and other reports, the Norwegian Nobel Committee will continue to shorten the list of candidates.

The winner's decision will be made at the final meeting of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, usually in late September or early October, before the award is announced.

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on December 10 every year, on the day of Alfred Nobel's death.

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