The 2019

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolo ...

was awarded to the

prime minister of Ethiopia The Prime Minister of Ethiopia is the head of government and Chief Executive of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a parliamentary republic with a Prime Minister as head of the government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ethiopian Armed Forces. The Pri ...

Abiy Ahmed Abiy Ahmed Ali ( om, Abiyi Ahmed Alii; am, አብይ አሕመድ ዐሊ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who has been the 4th prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia since 2 April 2018. He won the 2019 ...

(b. 1976) "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 award was announced by the

Norwegian Nobel Committee The Norwegian Nobel Committee ( no, Den norske Nobelkomité) selects the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize each year on behalf of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel's estate, based on instructions of Nobel's will. Five members are appointed by ...

on 11 October 2019. One year after Abiy received the prize, he presided over the outbreak of the

Tigray War The Tigray War; ; . was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray Peop ...

, which saw hundreds of thousands of casualties and led to the displacement of more than 800,000 persons. In response to the outbreak of hostilities, the Norwegian Nobel Committee released a statement in January 2022 which called the humanitarian situation "extremely serious"; said the lack of delivery of humanitarian aid to Tigray was "unacceptable"; and observed that "As Prime Minister and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Abiy Ahmed has a special responsibility to end the conflict and help to create peace."

Candidates

Nobel Committee

Tasked with reviewing nominations from September of the previous year through February 1 and ultimately selecting the Prize winners, the members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee for 2019 were: *

Berit Reiss-Andersen Berit Reiss-Andersen (born 11 July 1954) is a Norwegian lawyer, author and former politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. She is chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the 5-member committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize. She is also a ...

(chair, born 1954),

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However ...

(barrister) and president of the

Norwegian Bar Association The Norwegian Bar Association ( no, Den Norske Advokatforening) is an association of Norwegian lawyers. It was established in 1908 as , and assumed its current name from 1965. As of 2008 the association had about 7,000 members. Among its publicati ...

, former state secretary for the

Minister of Justice and the Police In Norway, the Minister of Justice and Public Security is the head of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police, Royal Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police and a member of Government of Norway. The current Justice Minister is Emilie ...

(representing the Labour Party). Member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2012, reappointed for the period 2018–2023. *

Henrik Syse Henrik Syse (born 19 April 1966) is a Norwegian philosopher, author, and lecturer. He is a Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), and a part-time Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Bjørknes College in Oslo. He ...

(vice-chair, born 1966), research professor at the

Peace Research Institute Oslo The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO; no, Institutt for fredsforskning) is a private research institution in peace and conflict studies, based in Oslo, Norway, with around 100 employees. It was founded in 1959 by a group of Norwegian researcher ...

. Member of the Committee since 2015, appointed for the period 2015–2020. *

Thorbjørn Jagland Thorbjørn Jagland (born Thorbjørn Johansen; , 5 November 1950) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He served as the secretary general of the Council of Europe from 2009 to 2019. He served as the 32nd prime minister of Norway from ...

(born 1950), former Member of Parliament and

President of the Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

and former Prime Minister for the Labour Party, current Secretary-General of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

. Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee from 2009 to 2015. Currently regular member. Member of the Committee since 2009, reappointed for the period 2015–2020. *

Anne Enger Anne Enger, formerly Anne Enger Lahnstein (born 9 December 1949), is a Norwegian politician who served as County Governor of Østfold from 2004 until 2015, and Leader of the Centre Party from 1991 to 1999, with opposition to the European Uni ...

(born 1949), former Leader of the Centre Party and

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizatio ...

. Appointed for the period 2018–2020. *

Asle Toje Asle Toje (born February 16, 1974) is the Deputy Leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee (2018-2023). He is a foreign policy scholar and was Research Director at the Norwegian Nobel Institute from 2009 until he joined the Nobel Peace Prize Committe ...

(born 1974), foreign policy scholar. Appointed for the period 2018–2023.

References

{{2019 Nobel Prize winners

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2019 awards