OSLO, Norway (AP) — The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded today to three women: Africa’s first democratically elected female president, a Liberian campaigner against rape and a woman who stood up to Yemen’s autocratic regime. The award recognizes the importance of women’s rights in the spread of global peace.
The Nobel website says the prize was motivated by “their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”
The 10 million kronor ($1.5 million) award was divided among Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, women’s rights activist Leymah Gbowee from the same African country and democracy activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen. Karman is the first Arab woman to win the prize.
Liberia’s Sirleaf, nicknamed “Iron Lady,” became Africa’s first democratically elected female leader in 2005. Gbowee, who organized a group of Christian and Muslim women to challenge Liberia’s warlords, was honored for mobilizing women. Karman heads the human rights group Women Journalists without Chains and has been a leading figure in organizing this year’s protests in Yemen.