MeEllen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia and Africa’s first female president; Liberia’s Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen, were awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their nonviolent role in promoting peace, democracy and gender equality. They were the first women to win the prize since 2004 when it was awarded to Kenya’s Wangari Maathai.
Former Norwegian prime minister, Thorbjorn Jagland, who heads the Oslo-based Nobel committee that chooses the winner of the $1.5 million prize said, “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.”
More than 250 people were nominated for this year’s prize.
