The Colombians are proud to receive the Nobel Peace Prize

Juan Manuel SantosColombia's President Juan Manuel Santos signs a new peace accord in Bogota, Colombia November 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga

‘That this year’s peace prize went to Colombia’s President, Juan Manuel Santos, has been very inspiring for those who are participants in peace efforts in the country’, said the Secretary General of the relief organisation of the Catholic Church, Caritas Norway.

‘The Nobel Peace Prize has been of great importance. It has given us Colombians more of a sense of responsibility. We are proud! Now the young say that they’ll create a new future’, said Martha Rubiano Skretteberg to NTB.

Caritas’ Secretary General is from Colombia and recently returned from a visit to her homeland.

On Friday morning, the Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, will arrive at Gardermoen, ready for the solemn Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo City Hall on Saturday.

He received the prize for his efforts to achieve a peace agreement with the ‘Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’ (FARC) guerrillas within the country. The agreement ended 50 years of civil war.

Great inspiration

‘People feel that the peace prize also belongs to them. For the first time, I have experienced all sides contributing to constructive solutions in implementing the peace agreement’, Skretteberg told NTB news.

This year’s award was announced just a few days after the Colombians turned their thumbs down in a referendum for the peace agreement that Santos had worked hard to put in place.

But the various parties didn’t give up, and on December 1st, the Colombian National Assembly approved a revised agreement.

It probably makes the trip to Oslo an extra honour for President Santos, who has three busy days ahead.

A tightly packed program

By Friday, he has already set a press conference with national and international news media.

On Saturday, the show kicks off with a ‘Save the Children’ (Redd Barnas) prize party at the Nobel Peace Center in Rådhusplassen at 11.00. Then it’s off to City Hall, where the royal couple, the crown prince and his wife, and members of parliament and government will be present.

The ceremony starts precisely at 13.00 with a musical performance, before the committee deputy, Berit Reiss-Andersen will mount the rostrum to present the prestigious gold medal and handwritten diploma to the new Nobel laureate.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today