US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has been nominated for a peace award, Belfast Telegraph reported.

A short list of five people have been released for the 2012 Tipperary International Peace Award.

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai who was shot earlier this year, president of the Indian National Congress Sonia Ghandi, former Kenyan journalist John Githongo and Pax Christi International, a non-profit Catholic peace movement, have also made the list.

The award winner will be announced on January 1.

Previous recipients include former South African president Nelson Mandela, former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, former US president Bill Clinton and last year's recipients former president of Ireland, Professor Mary McAleese and her husband Senator Martin McAleese.

Peace Convention secretary Martin Quinn said Mrs Clinton joined the US State Department in 2009, after nearly four decades in public service as an advocate, attorney, first lady, and senator.

"Throughout her tenure she has looked towards "smart power" as the strategy for asserting US leadership and values, combining military strength with US capacities in global economics, development aid, and technology," he said.