The Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 has been awarded to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee is a politically independent committee, responsible for electing Nobel Peace Prize laureates every year according to the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel’s will. On Friday October 7 the committee leader, Torbjørn Jagland, announced this year’s laureates to the international press. In its announcement of this year’s award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee refers to the importance of UN Security Council resolution 1325, which for the first time addressed violence against women in situations of armed conflict as a matter of international security.
- Norway has given high priority to efforts in this area, Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg said in a response to this year’s decision by the Committee.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Africa’s first democratically elected woman president. Since her inauguration in 2006, she has helped to secure peace in Liberia, and has promoted economic and social development and the empowerment of women.
Leymah Gbowee mobilised and organised women across ethnic and religious boundaries to put an end to the prolonged war in Liberia and ensure the participation of women in elections. She has since worked to strengthen women’s influence in West Africa in conflict and post-conflict situations.
Both before and during the Arab Spring, in extremely challenging circumstances, Tawakkul Karman has played a key role in the fight for women’s rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen.
The Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Oslo on December 10 each year.