The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet for helping the country’s transition to democracy.

The Nobel committee said the group of civil society organisations had made a “decisive contribution” to democracy after the 2011 revolution.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said it warmly congratulates the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet on being awarded the prize.

As an institute that collaborates with civil society in peace processes, SIPRI acknowledges the Quartet’s key contribution to establishing an alternative peaceful political process at a time when Tunisia was on the brink of civil war, it said.

‘This prize is also a tribute to the crucial role civil society groups play in building peace and a better life for their country,’ says SIPRI Director Dan Smith. ‘This prize reflects the very best of the Nobel Peace Prize tradition.’