Three women’s rights activists
win Nobel Peace Prize
October 7, 2011 | 4:03 am LATimes
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, her compatriot Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen were recognized for their nonviolent activism.
REPORTING FROM CAIRO — The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three women from Africa and the Middle East who symbolized the nonviolent struggle to improve their nations and advance the role of women’s rights throughout the world.
The winners were Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first democratically elected female president; her countrywoman Leymah Gbowee, a peace activist who challenged warlords; and Tawakul Karman, a Yemeni human rights leader seeking to overthrow an autocratic regime as part of the so-called Arab Spring.
“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,” said the citation read by Thorbjorn Jagland, head of the Nobel committee based in Oslo, Norway.
Photos: The 2011 Nobel Prizes
The award for Johnson-Sirleaf, who is known as the Iron Lady, comes as the 72-year-old president is facing re-election on Tuesday. A Harvard-educated economist, Johnson-Sirleaf has been criticized for supporting former Liberian President Charles Taylor. She has since backed his prosecution as a war criminal, turning him over to a United Nations tribunal.
“Since her inauguration in 2006,” the Nobel citation read, Johnson-Sirleaf “has contributed to securing peace in Liberia, to promoting economic and social development, and to strengthening the position of women.”