Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Ole Danbolt Mjøs yesterday called on the students to properly educate themselves to fight global warming, establish peace and build a poverty-free world, which would also be free of nuclear weapons.

"You have the potential and power to do it. Let's do it together," he said while delivering a lecture at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the city. Some 3,200 university and college students from across the country attended the programme.

Encouraging the students to study peace studies, Prof Mjøs said they can also take advantage of the exchange programmes to pursue peace studies abroad.

Replying to a question from the students, he said the young people can also win the peace prize by promoting peace worldwide.

He also suggested to the students that they organise a peace conference in Bangladesh and invite students form the neighbouring countries. "Each of you present here has the potential to win the Nobel Peace Prize," he added.

In his lecture titled 'Some Reflections on the Nobel Peace Prize', Prof Mjøs said majority of the world's poor people are women and children.

Poverty may be the greatest challenge confronting the world over the next few decades, he said, adding that every country and nation must come forward to help tackle the challenge.

He also stressed the need to address the root causes of poverty to eradicate it. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights, thereby ensuring worldwide peace, he added.

"The struggle against poverty is the work for peace of the first order."

The Nobel Committee chairman noted that microcredit has proved itself to be a liberating force in societies where women in particular have to struggle against repressive social and economic conditions.

"We have created a slavery-free world, a polio-free world and an apartheid-free world. Creating a poverty-free world would be greater than all these accomplishments while at the same time reinforcing them. This would be a world that we could be proud to live in," he quoted Yunus as saying.

The Bangladeshis are living in a vulnerable position due to poverty and climate change, he said, adding that the whole world needs to tackle the challenge together as these are global problems too.

He also asked the students to establish a knowledge society. "Let's together create a world without poverty, let's build peace and prevent war, focus on integrity, fight global warming and protect environment, and let us work for a world free of nuclear weapon," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus said Grameen Bank is the only organisation in Asia to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Winning the Peace Prize has reminded the nation of its potential, he said and urged the students to equip themselves with knowledge to lead the world.

"Bangladesh has to be turned into a nation which will never fall behind any nation," he said.

Norwegian Ambassador to Bangladesh Ingebjørg Støfring was also present.