New York, NY (BBN) – United Nations officials have hailed Friday’s awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to three women’s activists, saying the recipients demonstrate the vital role that women play in advancing peace and security, boosting development and securing human rights around the globe.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female elected head of State; Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian peace activist; and Tawakkul Karman, a journalist and pro-democracy activist from Yemen, are the joint winners of this year’s prize.
Nobel judges, announcing the decision in Oslo, Norway, cited the winners’ “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peacebuilding work.”
Speaking in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the award could not have been better chosen.
“It underscores the vital role that women play in the advancement of peace and security, development and human rights,” he said.
“I myself have met women who have been the victims of sexual violence. I have seen for myself women’s leadership power in building and sustaining peace. And I have heard the voices of women calling for justice and democracy in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond.”
Mr. Ban’s remarks were echoed by Michelle Bachelet, the Executive Director of UN Women, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, who noted that each of the three Nobel recipients had overcome huge obstacles.
In its announcement the Nobel committee cited Security Council resolution 1325, the landmark text from 2000 that recognizes women and children constitute the majority of victims of conflicts, have a vital role in resolving those conflicts and must be given an equal role to men in all peace processes.
BBN/SSR/AD-08Oct11-2:02 pm (BST)
