Historian and PRIO Research Professor Hilde Henriksen Waage has been awarded the prestigious Norwegian transparency prize ‘Åpenhetsprisen’ in recognition of her longstanding work documenting and examining the Oslo Process, as well as her perseverance in locating missing archival documents related to the Oslo Accords.
The jury highlighted Waage’s willingness to challenge established narratives and her efforts to remind the public of the importance of open archives in preserving democratic memory. Through her research, she has helped advance transparency and public access to information.
“I am very happy and grateful to have received the Transparency Prize for 2026. It is undoubtedly a recognition of my lifelong research,” Waage said in a press release.
Waage is a leading Norwegian scholar of the Middle East and the Oslo peace process. Through her commitment to examining difficult questions and her decades-long efforts to uncover and document key historical sources, she has advanced transparency and deepened public understanding of Norway’s role in international peace diplomacy.
PRIO Director Haakon Gjerløw commended Waage on the award: “We are extremely proud of Hilde. Transparency and access to information are central to public accountability, and foundational to our ability to research the social world. Through her work on the Oslo Process, she has helped strengthen the foundation for a more informed public debate.”
In the context of the award ceremony, Waage described the distinction as recognition of a lifetime of scholarly work. At the same time, she emphasized that the research is far from finished. Newly available documents and sources continue to provide opportunities for further study of Norway’s engagement in the Middle East and the ways in which these historical processes have shaped Norwegian foreign policy.
The Oslo Accords were two transitional agreements negotiated with Norwegian facilitation in the early 1990s. They established a framework for Palestinian self-governance (PLO) and marked a historic breakthrough, as Israel and the Palestinian self-governance formally recognized one another for the first time. At the same time, several of the conflict’s most difficult and sensitive issues were deferred to future negotiations.
The 2026 transparency award is not Waage’s first award this year. Waage was also awarded Norway’s Fritt Ord prize earlier this year.
