Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Sunday said he would donate his Nobel Peace Prize money to victims of the 52-year-old conflict in his country. Santos made the announcement on his visit to the poverty-stricken town of Bojaya. He said the amount – nearly $1 million – will be used to fund infrastructure projects in conflict-ridden regions and victims' groups, AP reported.
Speaking to the residents of Bojaya, the Colombian president said he would not give up on securing peace with the country's biggest rebel group Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), even though voters had rejected the peace treaty his government had signed with the group.
"You symbolise the suffering of the victims of 52 years of war and are at the centre of the solution to this conflict...I'm not going to give up a single second," he said. More than 96% of Bojaya's residents had voted in favour of the peace treaty in the referendum.
Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, October 7. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, recognised his "resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end". The 8 million Swedish kronor ($930,000) award will be given to him in Oslo, Norway, on December 10.
The Colombian government had signed the peace deal with Farc, the country's largest rebel group, on September 27. The Marxist-Leninist group had been fighting for the redistribution of national wealth.
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