Nobel Peace Prize Winners 2011: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, Tawakkul Karman 6OKT11

WAY to go ladies! The Nobel Committee chose well, all three of these ladies deserve the prize for their commitment to peace, democracy and women's rights!
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, peace activist Leymah Gbowee, and human rights activist Tawakkul Karmanthe have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The three recipients were announced today in a ceremony in Oslo, Norway.
From the Nobel Peace Prize official website:

"It is the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s hope that the prize to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman will help to bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many countries, and to realise the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent."

Karman is a 32-year-old mother of three who heads the human rights group Women Journalists without Chains. She has been a leading figure in organizing protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh that kicked off in late January as part of a wave of anti-authoritarian revolts that have convulsed the Arab world.
"I am very very happy about this prize," Karman told The Associated Press. "I give the prize to the youth of revolution in Yemen and the Yemeni people."
By citing Karman, the committee appeared to be acknowledging the effects of the Arab Spring, which has challenged authoritarian regimes across the region. But citing the Arab Spring alone could have been problematic for the committee. The unrest toppled authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. But Libya descended into civil war that led to NATO military intervention. Egypt and Tunisia are still in turmoil. Hardliners are holding onto power in Yemen and Syria and a Saudi-led force crushed the uprising in Bahrain, leaving an uncertain record for the Arab protest movement.
Johnson Sirleaf, 72, is a Harvard-trained economist who became Africa's first democratically elected female president in 2005.
Liberia was ravaged by civil wars for years until 2003 and is still struggling to maintain a fragile peace with the help of U.N. peacekeepers.

Sirleaf was seen as a reformer and peacemaker in Liberia when she took office. She is running for re-election this month and opponents in the presidential campaign have accused her of buying votes and using government funds to campaign. Her camp denies the charges.
The committee cited Johnson Sirleaf's efforts to secure peace in her country, promote economic and social development and strengthen the position of women.
Gbowee, who organized a group of Christian and Muslim women to challenge Liberia's warlords, was honored for mobilizing women "across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure women's participation in elections."
The prize is awarded by a five-person committee chosen by the Norwegian parliament, lead this year by Thorbjoern Jagland. Speculation had swirled over who would receive the prize, with Jagland telling the Associated Press that the prize would be given to something "obvious" that he considered "the most positive development" in the world right now.
According the official Nobel Prize website, today's presentation marks the 92nd time the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded since 1901.
When Alfred Nobel died in 1895, part of his last will and testament requested the distribution of his fortune as prizes for "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." Last year's winner, Liu Xiaobo, received the award for his struggle for human rights in China. President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize the previous year for his efforts in international diplomacy.