On October 11, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize to Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
The committee spokesperson said that the Ethiopia Prime Minister received the award for his efforts in achieving peace and international cooperation along with his decisive initiatives in resolving border conflicts with neighboring Eritrea.
According to the committee, since becoming prime minister in April 2018, Ebiy Ahmed has clarified his desire to resume peace talks with Eritrea through close cooperation with President Eritrea to quickly set out the principles for a peace deal to end the long-standing stalemate between the two countries.
Abiy Ahmed was born in western Ethiopia and joined the resistance war against the power of strongistu Haile Mariam as a teenager. He then joined the armed forces and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He is a PhD in peace and security. He entered politics about 9 years ago after a period of working in the ethiopia cyberspace intelligence field.
In history, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to leaders of countries with contributions to the end of conflicts, most recently Colombian politician Juan Manuel Santos in 2016 for helping end the 50-year civil war in the country.
The Nobel Peace Prize has previously been awarded to many great figures such as Nelson Mandela, Mother Mother Teresa and Barack Obama. According to the Nobel Peace Prize website, there are 301 candidates for this year's award, including 223 individuals and 78 organizations. However, the committee will not announce the names of the nominated candidates after 50 years.
Thus, Mr. Ahmed became the 24th African to win the Nobel Prize, after Denis Mukwege of the Democratic Republic of Congo last year. African hopefuls who have won the Nobel Peace Prize in the 21st century include Leymahbowee and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Lebanon in 2011, Mohamed ElBaradei of Egypt in 2005, Wangari Maathai of Kenya in 2004 and Kofi Annan in 2001.
