The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

The Norwegian Nobel Committee made the announcement in Oslo on October 6.

The antinuclear group won for "its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, and for its groundbreaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons" committee president Berit Reiss-Andersen said.

ICAN, a global civil-society coalition working to press adherence to and full implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, was launched in 2007 and numbers a total of 468 partner organizations in 101 countries.

ICAN's efforts have been focused on shifting the disarmament debate toward the humanitarian threat represented by nuclear weapons, drawing attention to their huge destructive capacity as well as their catastrophic health and environmental consequences.

The award comes amid global tension over North Korea's nuclear program and missile tests.

Some observers had predicted the prestigious prize could go to key figures behind the 2015 deal between Iran and global powers in which Tehran agreed to curtail its nuclear activities in exchange for relief from international sanctions.