The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 is to be divided in three equal parts between Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman. These extraordinary women have been given the award for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually to individuals for their outstanding contributions to various areas. Past Nobel Peace Prize awardees have included President Barack Obama, Al Gore and Nelson Mandela. Typically, men are given this prestigious award. In fact this is the first time a woman has been given the award since Wangari Maathai received it in 2004.
Three Women You Need To Know
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected the 24th and current President of Liberia in 2005. She is the first and currently only elected female head of state in Africa. She’s won many awards for her work and was selected as 51st most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2006 and one of the top ten female leaders in the world by Time magazine.
Leymah Gbowee is a social worker turned African peace activist. She is responsible for organizing a peace movement that brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Her work led to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf being elected President of Liberia. Gbowee’s journey can be viewed in the documentary Pray The Devil Back to Hell in which she is the central character.
Tawakel Karman is a Yemeni politician who is a senior member of Al-Islah and a human rights activist who heads the group Women Journalists Without Chains that she created in 2005. Karman created the human rights group for promoting human rights, “particularly freedom of opinion and expression, and democratic rights”. The 32 year old, mother of three is one of the youngest winners of a Nobel Peace Prize.
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