Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, the awards committee in Norway announced on Friday.
Ahmed was recognised for starting peace talks with Eritrea and establishing a peace agreement to end the long stalemate between the two countries.
By winning the prize, Mr. Ahmed has joined the club of past winners- Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union.
The prize attracts 9-million kronor, or $916,000, cash award.
“When Abiy Ahmed reached out his hand, President Isaias Afwerki grasped it and helped to formalise the peace process between the two countries,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee.
“In Ethiopia, even if much work remains, Abiy Ahmed has initiated important reforms that give many citizens hope for a better life and a brighter future.
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BREAKING NEWS:
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali.#NobelPrize #NobelPeacePrize
He spent his first 100 days as prime minister lifting the country’s state of emergency, granting amnesty to thousands of political prisoners, discontinuing media censorship, legalising outlawed opposition groups, dismissing military and civil leaders who were suspected of corruption and significantly increasing the influence of women in Ethiopian political and community life.”
In all, 301 candidates were nominated for the peace prize this year, the fourth-highest number on record.
The office of the Ethiopian prime minister said: “We are proud as a nation” for winning the prestigious award.
“This victory and recognition is a collective win for all Ethiopians, and a call to strengthen our resolve in making Ethiopia – the new horizon of hope – a prosperous nation for all,” the statement read.
(ALJAZEERA)
