The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Abiy Ahmed Ali, the Ethiopian Prime Minister who helped end his country's 20-year war with Eritrea. Abiy was honoured "for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea," the jury said.
"The Norwegian Nobel committee has decided to award the Nobel peace prize for 2019 to Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed Ali’s efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation and for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea," spokesperson of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said while announcing the award.
In its announcement The Norwegian Nobel committee said, "Peace does not arise from the actions of one party alone. When Prime Minister Abiy reached out his hand, President Afwerki grasped it, and helped to formalise the peace process between the two countries. The Norwegian Nobel committee hopes the peace agreement will help to bring about positive change for the entire populations of Ethiopia and Eritrea."
The conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea over disputed border territory came at a huge financial and humanitarian cost for both countries.
Abiy, 43, also recently won plaudits for his role in helping to broker a power-sharing deal in neighboring Sudan after a political crisis that led to the arrest of Omar al-Bashir, the country's ruler for almost three decades. "The committee hopes that the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize will strengthen Prime Minister Abiy in his important work for peace and reconciliation," tweeted The Nobel Prize.
Last year, the award -- consisting of a gold medal, a diploma, and nine million Swedish kronor (around USD 912,000 or 828,000 euro) -- was given to two champions fighting sexual violence, Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege and Yazidi activist Nadia Murad. On Thursday, the Swedish Academy in Stockholm gave the 2019 Nobel Literature Prize to Austrian author Peter Handke. The 2018 prize, which the Academy had postponed in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal, was awarded to Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk. The Economics Prize will wrap up the 2019 Nobel prize season on October 14.
