THE NOBEL Peace Prize was awarded yesterday to three women, two Liberians and a Yemeni, underscoring the Norwegian Nobel committee’s view that women are vital campaigners for world peace and combating war and oppression.
The prize went jointly to Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa’s first freely elected woman head of state, her compatriot Leymah Gbowee, who led a “sex strike” as part of her campaign to force men to end Liberia’s civil war, and Arab activist Tawakul Karman, who has fought for women’s rights and democracy in Yemen.
“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,” committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said yesterday. The annual peace prize is awarded by the Norwegian committee, sitting in Oslo. All other Nobel prizes, for physics, medicine, chemistry and literature, are awarded by the Swedish committee, sitting in Stockholm.
Ms Johnson-Sirleaf (72), once dubbed the “Iron Lady” by opponents, is running for a second term in an election next Tuesday, where she faces criticism for not having done enough to heal the divisions of years of civil war.
Mr Jagland dismissed suggestions that the award might seem to constitute interference in the vote. But in the tattered capital of Monrovia, many Liberians reacted with pride while political foes were angered.
“During the civil war our country’s image . . . was of a country filled with war, cannibalism and human rights abuses,” said civil engineer Cornelius Sarplah (55). “Since she has come to power, she has changed that image and shown that we are a peaceful people.”
Christiana Nyepan (48), a teacher and supporter of the opposition CDC party, disagreed. “She has not created peace in Liberia or improved the situation for women. If she had, there would not be all this rape going on around the country,” she maintained.
Mr Jagland said that honouring Yemen’s protesters who, unlike those in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya are still fighting to get rid of their ruler, sent a signal that President Ali Abdullah Saleh and other Arab autocrats should now step down.
Recognising Yawakul Karman, a 32-year-old journalist and mother who was detained for a time during the unrest, was seen as a gesture of the Norwegian Nobel committee’s wider approval for the Arab spring protest movements, which had been heavily tipped to win the prize for their young street campaigners.
“In the most trying circumstances, both before and during the Arab spring, Tawakul Karman has played a leading part in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen,” the Nobel citation read.
Just a week ago, many Yemeni opponents of President Ali Abdullah Saleh would have said that Karman was an out-of-touch protest leader whose star was fading. But the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize has prompted second thoughts.
The Nobel committee noted that Leymah Gbowee (39) had mobilised women across ethnic and religious lines to bring an end to the war in Liberia and ensure their participation in elections.
Her brother, Alphonso Diamond Gbowee, said: “I am so excited that her relentlessness to ensure the development of women and children in our region has been recognised. She’s very hard-working, helping with women and children all over the place, especially in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone . . . This will be a challenge for her to do more. I have no doubt she’ll continue to impact those vulnerable lives.” – (Reuters)