
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 7 -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday that the 2016 Nobel Prize for Peace has been awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at a critical moment, which provides hope and encouragement to the Colombian people.
Santos won the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his resolute efforts to end Colombia's five-decade-long civil war between the Colombian government and the country's largest rebel group FARC.
Ban said this acknowledgement is "a timely message" to all parties striving for peace and tells them to keep working until they have brought the peace process to a successful conclusion, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told a daily briefing.
"He welcomed the continuing commitment of the parties to the cease-fire and encouraged the leaders to conduct a pragmatic dialogue focused on the Colombian people," said Haq.
Colombia's peace process has plunged into uncertainty as the Colombian people have narrowly rejected a peace deal reached between the Colombian government and the FARC in a national vote. Discussions for an improved accord are under way.
The conflict in Colombia has left 220,000 people dead, 25,000 missing and more than 5.7 million homeless in the country. The estimated economic loss of the country has reached 179 billion U.S. dollars.
Home-made plane completes test flight in Chicago
The untold stories of women in the Long March
Female soldiers on Frigate Jingzhou
Top 10 most beautiful Chinese athletes in Rio
Shenzhen seizes 549 tons of illegally smuggled clothing
Chinese actor Wang Baoqiang divorces wife, fires manager
Hangzhou: host city of G20 Summit
New hovercrafts debut in landing exercise
Woman sets Guinness World Record with 17-month-long pregnancy
Top 10 livable Chinese cities
Top 20 hottest women in the world in 2014
Top 10 hardest languages to learn
China’s Top 10 Unique Bridges, Highways and Roads
Where China’s top officials go for advice
Chinese villages hotbeds for fake soldier scams
Soaring home prices generate high anxiety
Chinese Kunqu Opera wins audiences' hearts at Cambridge's King's College
Day|Week