Abiy has been praised for his efforts to end a violent, decades-long conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.  Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize to Abiy Ahmed Ali, the Ethiopian prime minister who, with stunning alacrity, has made major strides in resolving a decades-long border conflict with Eritrea.

“As Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed has sought to promote reconciliation, solidarity and social justice. The Nobel Committee hopes that the Nobel Peace Prize will strengthen Prime Minister Abiy in his important work for peace and reconciliation,”

After becoming the Prime Minister on April 02, 2018, Abiy Ahmed promised major reforms including the solution of the long-term conflict with Eritrea. Within four months, Ali was able to work out a peace deal and signed the Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship with Eritrea  

on July 08, 2018, in Asmara, Eritrea.  Abiy Ahmed had made history even before signing the deal as he became the first Ethiopian leader to meet an Eritrean counterpart in over two decades

In 2010, Abiy Ahmed, as a leader of Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), was elected to the lower chamber of the Ethiopian Federal Parliamentary Assembly, House of People’s Representatives. He also served as the Minister of Science and Technology for a brief period.

The roots of the conflict between the two countries began in the 1960s, when Ethiopia annexed Eritrea. In 1993, after 30 years of fighting, Eritrea held a referendum in which voters opted to separate from Ethiopia, and the two nations cleaved on reportedly friendly terms. But five years later, a dispute erupted over the border town of Badme, spurring a violent war that led to the deaths of as many as 100,000 people between 1998 and 2000. In 2002, an international boundary commission awarded 

Badme to Eritrea, but Ethiopia would not surrender the town, leading to a lasting military stalemate. 

The war also played a role in transforming Eritrea into a reclusive regime, known as “Africa’s North Korea.” As the conflict raged, Eritrea’s autocratic government suspended country’s constitution and implemented an unending state of emergency. Every Eritrean is now required to undertake “national service” for an indeterminate period of time after they turn 18. “Some are assigned to civil service positions, while most are placed in military units according to Human Rights Watch. In 2001, independent newspapers were shut down, their editors and top journalists arrested. The government restricts religious freedoms, and citizens live under the threat of an arbitrary imprisonment and torture

But in the case of Ethiopia,  since taking office, Abiy has made concerted efforts to end hostilities with his country’s isolated neighbor.  He announced Ethiopia would accept a peace agreement with Eritrea. He  formally restored diplomatic relations, and agreed to open embassies in their respective capitals. Telecommunications and commercial flights between the two countries were restored, allowing families that had long been separated by the conflict to finally reconnect.

Abiy Ahmed’s unconditional willingness to accept the arbitration ruling of an international boundary commission in 2002 was underlined by the Nobel committee. Abiy has also been praised for implementing reforms at home. Though the country was formally governed by a four-party political coalition, power had long rested in the hands of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, which represented the interests of one ethnic group.  Recently,  protesters   began demanding political, economic changes.

At that tensed period, Abiy took charge as Prime 

Minister,  hails from a mixed ethnic background, handled the situation with broad political perspective.

According to the Nobel Committee, “Within the first 100 days as prime minister, Abiy lifted Ethiopia’s state of emergency, granted amnesty to thousands of political prisoners, legalized banned opposition groups, and dismissed military and civilian leaders accused of corruption”. He also ended media censorship—as of last year, Ethiopia reportedly had no journalists in prison—and promised the country would hold free elections next year. Ethiopia now has a gender balanced Cabinet, Abiy Ahmed joined Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), one of the four coalition parties of the ruling government, to start his political career. He became the congress member of EPRDF (Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front), the ruling coalition front. In 2010, Abiy Ahmed, as a leader of Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), was elected to the lower chamber of the Ethiopian Federal Parliamentary Assembly, House of People’s Representatives. He also served as the Minister of Science and Technology for a brief period.

Eiopia the second most populous country in Africa, with more than one hundred million inhabitants, considers prime minister’s  Nobel prize  with higher dignity.