By Janet Ekstract
NEW YORK (TURKISH JOURNAL) – The 2019 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to recognize his peacemaking efforts in ending Ethiopia ‘s 20-year border conflict with Eritrea. He was also recognized for being the catalyst in reconciliation efforts between Djibouti and Eritrea, Kenya and Somalia and in Sudan.
On Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Institute lauded what they termed as “important reforms” that Abiy passed since taking office in April 2018. Some of those include freedom of the press, detention reforms and expanded government transparency.
The Nobel Committee has in the past awarded the highly prestigious award in honor of an ongoing peace process as it has done with Abiy.
Abiy faces an uphill battle because despite his sweeping reforms – Abiy’s government continues to face mounting pressure to maintain the reforms he introduced.
Coupled with that, Ethiopia is home to numerous ethnic minorities who are now using their newfound freedom to speak out against past injustices.
What makes Abiy receiving the prize so unique is that at 43, he’s the youngest African leader on that continent and he was able to effectively take office after widespread protests against the former ruling coalition.
Ethiopia is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and Abiy was celebrated after taking office for fully accepting a peace deal with Eritrea that ended a 20-year conflict between the two nations.
