Minister of Peace, Muferiat Kamil, received the award on behalf of the Prime Minister at a ceremony held yesterday in the Landtag, Germany.
Prime Minister Dr Abiy was declared winner of the award by the members of the Board of Trustees of Albert Osswald Foundation last August.
“In his first year in office, he released dissidents, fired corrupt officials, and sealed a historic reconciliation. For this, he now receives the Hessian Peace Prize,” said the Foundation in a statement.
“Prime Minister Dr Abiy has become the hopeful, especially through the conclusion of a peace treaty with the neighbouring country of Eritrea, it said.
For 20 years, the two states had been at a state of no war no peace. Domestically, PM Dr Abiy initiated political and economic reforms in the multi-ethnic nation of 105 million people.
“Abiy has scheduled free elections for May 2020. This year, his campaign to plant four billion trees for residents across the country made headlines,” the statement noted.
The Hessian Peace Prize, endowed with € 25,000 was established in 1993 by Albert Osswald, the former Prime Minister of the German state of Hesse.
It is awarded annually to people who have rendered “outstanding services to international understanding and peace”
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