Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, also from Liberia, and Tawakkul Karman from the Yemen received the 2011 Prize for their work on women’s rights.
The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen for their work on women’s rights.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee honored the three women «for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.»
«I am very very happy about this prize,» said Karman, a 32-year-old mother of three who heads the human rights group Women Journalists without Chains.
Johnson Sirleaf, 72, is a Harvard-trained economist who became Africa’s first democratically elected female president in 2005. She faces a presidential poll this month.
Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, organized a group of Christian and Muslim women to challenge Liberia’s warlords. In 2009 she won a Profile in Courage Award.
«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.
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