The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three women – President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia; her compatriot, the peace activist Leymah Gbowee of Liberia; and pro-democracy campaigner Tawakkol Karman of Yemen – for their nonviolent role in promoting peace, democracy, and gender equality.
They were the first women to win the prize since Wangari Maathai of Kenya was named as the Laureate in 2004. The Norwegian Nobel Committee that chooses the winner, described the 2011 prize as “a very important signal to woman all over the world. The world cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.”
Johnson Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained economist, was Africa’s first democratically elected female President in 2005. Since her inauguration in 2006, she has contributed to securing peace in Liberia, promoting economic and social development, and strengthening the position of women. Gbowee, a trained social worker, mobilized and organized women across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the war in Liberia, and to ensure women’s participation in elections. Tawakkol Karman, Chairman of the human rights group Women Journalists Without Chains, has played a key role in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen, organizing protests to demand greater rights for women and freedom of the press. She is the first Arab to win the award.
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