2011 Nobel Peace Prize to three women from Liberia and Yemen
(October 07, 2011) Africa's first democratically elected female president, a Liberian
peace activist and a woman who stood up to Yemen's authoritarian regime won this year’s
Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work to secure women's rights, which the prize
committee described as fundamental to advancing world peace. The 10 million kronor
($1.5 million) award will be split three ways between Liberian President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf, peace activist Leyma Gbowee, also from Liberia and democracy activist Tawakkul
Karman of Yemen - the first Arab woman to win the prize. By citing Karman, the committee
also appeared to be acknowledging the effects of the Arab Spring, which has challenged
authoritarian regimes across the region. The Norwegian Nobel Committee honoured the
three women ``for their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women's
rights to full participation in peace-building work.'' ``We cannot achieve democracy
and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to
influence developments at all levels of society,'' the prize committee said. It hoped
the prize would bring more attention to rape and other violence against women as well
as women's role in promoting democracy in Africa and the Arab and Muslim world. Karman,
a 32-year-old mother of three who heads the human rights group Women Journalists without
Chains, has been a leading figure in organizing protests against President Ali Abdullah
Saleh that kicked off in late January as part of a wave of anti-authoritarian revolts
that have convulsed the Arab world. Sirleaf, 72, has a master's degree in public
administration from Harvard University and has held top regional jobs at the World
Bank, the United Nations and within the Liberian government. On winning Liberia’s
elections in 2005 she became Africa's first democratically elected female leader.
Meanwhile, Gbowee, who organized a group of Christian and Muslim women to challenge
Liberia's warlords, was honoured for mobilizing women ``across ethnic and religious
dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure women's participation
in elections.'' Gbowee has long campaigned for the rights of women and against rape.
In 2003, she led hundreds of female protesters through Monrovia to demand swift disarmament
of fighters who preyed on women throughout Liberia during 14 years of near-constant
civil war.