Three women win Nobel Peace Prize 2011
- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia;
- Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist and founder of the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement;
- and Tawakkul Karman, Yemeni pro-democracy activist and founder of the Women Journalists without Chains group.
Women's rights given pride of place
The Nobel Committee had plenty of choice this year with a record number of nominations: A whopping 241 people where nominated but the identities are always kept secret.
While many experts would have put their money on key dissidents involved in the Arab Spring (the uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa that began in the spring), Thorbjoern Jagland, the president of the Nobel Committee preferred to honour a more "unifying" fight.
This year the peace prize has been given to honour women's struggles and the great work being done towards peace and equality for women in developing nations Liberia and Yemen.
The Nobel Committee praised Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman for their "participation in peace-building work" through their "non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights" and they also emphasised that "we cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men."
Amen to that.
