Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, has been awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize. He was awarded the honour “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 43-year-old was instrumental in making a peace deal, which was signed last year, that ended a two-decade deadlock with Eritrea following the border war of 1998-2000. The two nations have been involved in a bitter border feud but restored relations in July 2018 post the peace treaty.
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 pic.twitter.com/uGRpZJHk1B— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 11, 2019
Abiy was elected the Prime Minister of Ethiopia in April 2018, becoming the first Oromo to lead the African nation. He was in the news for appointing a gender-equal cabinet, showing his commitment to gender equality. Further, he mediated a power-sharing deal with the neighbouring country of Sudan that won him accolades.
He became the 100th recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
There was much speculation about the winners of this year’s Peace Prize. A total of 301 candidates, which included teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and New Zealand’s leader Jacinda Arden.
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