The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abyei Ahmed, the architect of major reconciliation between his country and neighboring Eritrea.

Norwegian Nobel Peace Committee Chairperson Beret Rice Andersen said the award was given to Abyei "in recognition of his efforts to reach peace and serve international cooperation, especially for his decisive initiative aimed at resolving the border dispute with Eritrea."

The award also aims to "recognize all actors working for peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and the East and North-East Africa regions," she said.

The Nobel Committee also noted the efforts of Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki.

"Peace does not stem from the actions of one party," she said. When Prime Minister Abyei reached out, President Afewerki accepted it and helped build the peace process between the two countries.

The Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Selection Committee said on Friday it had been unable to communicate with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abe Ahmed, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, before the official announcement of the award.

"If he sees me now, I would like to send him warm congratulations," Committee Chairman Perret Reyes Andersen told reporters.

At least 300 personalities and personalities were nominated this year.

Nobel Peace was awarded last year to Congolese doctor Denis Mukweji and Yezidi Nadia Murad, who was captured by ISIS. The winners are working to "end sexual violence as a weapon of war."

The award is a gold necklace and an imminent certificate worth nine million Swedish kronor (about 830,000 euros).

In a will he wrote before his death, the inventor of dynamite expressed his desire to reward "those who provided mankind during the year the greatest services."

After the Nobel Peace Prize, the only prize to be awarded in Oslo, the award season will conclude this Monday with the announcement of the Nobel laureate for the economy.

Ethiopia said it was "proud as a nation" of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Prime Minister Abyei Ahmed, according to a tweet from the office of the prime minister of Africa's second-most populous country.

"We are proud as a nation," Abyei wrote on Twitter. He published a statement on the same site that considered this award constitutes a "recognition" of the Prime Minister's work for "unity, cooperation and coexistence."

Since Prime Minister Abyei Ahmed took office in April 2018, he has made peace, amnesty and reconciliation essential elements of his policy and administration.