Nobel Peace Prize Shared Between Three Women

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded jointly to three women – Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen.

They were recognized for their “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”

Sirleaf is Africa’s first female elected head of state, Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist and Karman is a leading figure in Yemen’s pro-democracy movement.

Announcing the prize in Oslo, Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said: “We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women achieve the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.”

“It is the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s hope that the prize… will help to bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many countries, and to realize the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent,” said the citation.

The World’s previous coverage featuring Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee:

• Rebuilding of Liberia After War – an interview with Leymah Gbowee
• Lisa Mullins interviews Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
• Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – ‘Ma Ellen’ – and her Liberian Presidential Re-election Bid – a report from Bonnie Allen
• Liberian Proverbs - a report from Jason Margolis featuring Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
• Liberia’s Market Women - a report from Jessie Graham featuring Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
• The New President’s First Year – a second report from Jessie Graham featuring Sirleaf after her first year as president

See what people are saying about the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winners