Global News Post: Peace Prize

Three Women Accept 2011 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><br />
</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Two women from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Liberia</st1:country-region> and one from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Yemen</st1:country-region> who fought injustice, oppression and sexual violence against women were awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Saturday at a ceremony in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Norway</st1:country-region>'s capital, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oslo</st1:place></st1:city>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Facing a standing ovation of admirers, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni women's rights advocate Tawakkul Karman were handed their prestigious medals in the lavishly decorated <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oslo</st1:place></st1:city> city hall.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Norwegian Nobel Committee president Thorbjoern Jagland told the women they represent the struggle for “human rights in general and of women for equality and peace in particular.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Mrs. Sirleaf became Africa's first democratically elected female president in 2005, and has been applauded for her efforts to secure peace and strengthen the position of women in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Liberia</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Leyman Gbowee, also from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Liberia</st1:place></st1:country-region>, helped end her country's 14-year civil war by encouraging women to participate in a series of non-violent demonstrations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Tawakkul Karman, an activist and journalist in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Yemen</st1:country-region></st1:place>, is the first Arab woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and at 32, is the youngest person to receive the award. She is credited for her leading role in the struggle for women's rights and for democracy and peace in her country, which has been wracked by demonstrations and violence this year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">The three women will share an award of nearly $1.5 million. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div>

Three Women Accept 2011 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo

Two women from Liberia and one from Yemen who fought injustice, oppression and sexual violence against women were awarded the 2011 Nobel...

Nobel Prize to the Yemeni People.

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4b5wLH3rB0wpPp_nqWG9jXud5-4St_k4Z5_pDJv0LCMZ7BkJ3UmuvlzFKIsSW-tBq0D7SKiTiKpRY9ilIUatiDZH8EP0pRWZpHmu5k3LjpwW5Gh-KKQY5-U-_lQvd_2_M1-44b_47ia8/s1600/tawakkulkamran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4b5wLH3rB0wpPp_nqWG9jXud5-4St_k4Z5_pDJv0LCMZ7BkJ3UmuvlzFKIsSW-tBq0D7SKiTiKpRY9ilIUatiDZH8EP0pRWZpHmu5k3LjpwW5Gh-KKQY5-U-_lQvd_2_M1-44b_47ia8/s1600/tawakkulkamran.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span> </span><span> </span>Tawakkul Karman </span></b></span><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i>NNN- Yemeni human rights campaigner Tawakkul Karman, a joint winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, has reportedly promised to donate her share of the Nobel award money to the public treasury in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Yemen</st1:place></st1:country-region>. A Yemeni opposition website, Mareb Press, quoted Karman as telling gatherers at a ceremony in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Yemen</st1:country-region>'s capital, Sanaa, late on October 8 that her half-million-dollar prize money would be given to the people of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Yemen</st1:place></st1:country-region> after President Ali Abdullah Saleh steps down from power. </i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i>Karman reportedly said the donated money should prompt a hunt for public funds 'plundered by the Saleh regime.' Saleh announced on October 8 that he was willing to step down from power 'in the coming days.' But he gave no concrete plan for the transition. For the past nine months, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Yemen</st1:place></st1:country-region> has been largely paralyzed by protests against Saleh's 33-year rule. Photo courtesy of rferl.org---NNN</i></b><i><o:p></o:p></i></div></div>

Nobel Prize to the Yemeni People.

Tawakkul Karman NNN- Yemeni human rights campaigner Tawakkul Karman, a joint winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace ...

Nobel Laureate's Wife a Prisoner in China as Well

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">By William Ide<span>  </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It has been a year since imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and yet little has changed. Liu remains behind bars and his wife, Liu Xia, has become a prisoner in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> as well.<span>  </span>She is under house arrest, cut off from the outside world and prohibited from seeing all but a few family members.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Liu Xia has been progressively deprived of her contact with the outside world since shortly after her husband was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch says the Chinese government has not been shy about persecuting Liu Xiaobo's family members.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The past year, she says, has been miserable for Liu Xia. "In the one brief incident when she was able to get online and tweet, she used that very word herself - 'miserable' - to describe her own circumstances, and that she was being held quote hostage with her family by the government," said <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Richardson</st1:place></st1:city>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">According to human rights advocates and reports from <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>, Liu Xia is being held at a residence in the suburbs of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Beijing</st1:place></st1:city>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amnesty International says Liu Xia's mother, who lives in the same complex, has been allowed to visit her daughter only occasionally.<span>  </span>Family members are pressured by police not to reveal any details of Liu Xia's situation.<span>  </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Until a few months ago, Liu Xia was allowed to visit Liu Xiaobo in prison.<span>  </span>Recently, Liu himself was allowed out of prison for part of a day to attend a memorial service for his father.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Chinese authorities have thwarted all attempts by journalists and diplomats to contact Liu Xia - either by personal visits, telephone or through the Internet. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">"If they try the electronic means, there is no access essentially because Liu Xia and her family members aren't able to receive those calls or emails of tweets," said <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Richardson</st1:place></st1:city>. "And the house is on a street, there are guards who are posted there - sometimes they are in uniform and sometimes they are not - who simply prevent people from even approaching the gate."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Chinese authorities maintain that Liu Xia is free, and allowed to do whatever she wants. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">However, rights activists say the treatment Liu Xia and the family of Liu Xiaobo are receiving is not uncommon. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The family of Chen Guangcheng, a blind activist lawyer who was released from prison last year, has been put under house arrest even he served four years in jail.<span>  </span>Because of this, his daughter is unable to attend school. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Chen was sentenced to prison after he campaigned to stop authorities from forcing peasants to have abortions or be sterilized. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Sharon Hom is executive director of Human Rights in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>. "The key point is that [Liu Xia's situation] is reflective of the human-rights situation in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> today: of the enforced disappearances of the writers, the artists, the bloggers, the defenders.<span>  </span>And her situation is really reflective of the broader situation, that requires much greater international scrutinty and attention," she said.<span>   </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Rights activists and political analysts believe part of this intensified effort to clamp down is linked to <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>'s upcoming leadership transition in 2012, and that it is also an attempt to prevent any "Arab Spring" type of activism from taking root in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">What is even more worrying, rights advocates say, is that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> is also looking at changes to its laws that would allow authorities to hold individuals under a form of residential surveillance for up to six months - but not in their own homes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">"The Chinese government's response to international pressure over the disappearances of lawyers, writers, bloggers earlier in the year as a means of stamping out any possible 'Arab Spring' in China was met not with a decision to stop using those tactics, but quite perversely by an inclination to legalize them," said Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Given the hardening security environment in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>, rights activists say it's doubtful Liu Xia's situation will change any time soon.<span>  </span>And with amendments on the table to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s Criminal Procedure Law, they express concern that authorities' ability to make dissidents disappear may not ease off, but expand. ---VOA NEWS<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>

Nobel Laureate's Wife a Prisoner in China as Well

By William Ide It has been a year since imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and yet little has cha...

Obama Salutes New Nobel Laureates

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div style="line-height: 11.4pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">By Kent Klein from White House<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div style="mso-line-height-alt: 11.4pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfN54PL1PW1ydQAh-lADkEqDRCrbZGzbMmFaM9qDFaau61hQEaDqEm1BWdPt0XWjpBL3KsGvuo1trrtnEzV7B0axPO9FPPU0K8WxkMoUUJ5zphEbMi0Mz2bS-ORw8LF-5RlV9BuXvCjFU/s1600/obama_29UJul11-resized-white+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfN54PL1PW1ydQAh-lADkEqDRCrbZGzbMmFaM9qDFaau61hQEaDqEm1BWdPt0XWjpBL3KsGvuo1trrtnEzV7B0axPO9FPPU0K8WxkMoUUJ5zphEbMi0Mz2bS-ORw8LF-5RlV9BuXvCjFU/s1600/obama_29UJul11-resized-white+house.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">US President- VOA News Photo</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="mso-line-height-alt: 11.4pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">President Barack Obama has paid tribute to the three winners of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. The president said this year’s award is a testament to the power of women. He also said he admires the determination and spirit of the newest group of Nobel laureates.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div style="mso-line-height-alt: 11.4pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="mso-line-height-alt: 11.4pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The president, who won the 2009 Peace Prize, saluted this year’s winners, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, and Yemeni women’s rights activist Tawakkul Karman.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div style="mso-line-height-alt: 11.4pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="mso-line-height-alt: 11.4pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“When we empower women around the world, then everyone is better off. Countries and cultures that respect the contributions of women inevitably end up being more successful than those that do not,” said the president.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div style="mso-line-height-alt: 11.4pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="mso-line-height-alt: 11.4pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Obama met with President Sirleaf at the White House in May.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div style="mso-line-height-alt: 11.4pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="mso-line-height-alt: 11.4pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Meanwhile, the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> State Department renewed its call for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region></st1:place> to free last year’s Peace Prize winner, jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></div>

Obama Salutes New Nobel Laureates

By Kent Klein from White House US President- VOA News Photo President Barack Obama has paid tribute to the three winners of the 2011 No...

UN hails awarding of Nobel Peace Prize to three women’s activists

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9BlehY1YDHG2F5kX8goj24yt9h4zpj6FodbgsW2k2YC8_w9wpEg8PWUho96ssn-7VK9RsQiiZT3Qz4B1LC5pIi-TurjUPXSjWoLOuMw6QF4O__u28o7UI2Iv2PycTk6m9XV4dc6nJwM/s1600/liberian+prez+unphoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9BlehY1YDHG2F5kX8goj24yt9h4zpj6FodbgsW2k2YC8_w9wpEg8PWUho96ssn-7VK9RsQiiZT3Qz4B1LC5pIi-TurjUPXSjWoLOuMw6QF4O__u28o7UI2Iv2PycTk6m9XV4dc6nJwM/s1600/liberian+prez+unphoto.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;">President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Liberia</st1:place></st1:country-region>, speaks at <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;">an event on Peace and Security through Women's <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Leadership at UN Headquarters in 2009 Photo: UN News<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today hailed the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to three women’s activists, describing it as “a testament to the power of women’s leadership.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female elected head of State; Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian peace activist; and Tawakkul Karman, a pro-democracy activist from Yemen are the joint winners of this year’s prize.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Nobel judges, announcing the decision today, cited their “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peacebuilding work.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Speaking in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state>, Mr. Ban said the award could not have been better chosen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“It underscores the vital role that women play in the advancement of peace and security, development and human rights,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“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, <st1:place w:st="on">North Africa</st1:place> and beyond.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Describing the winners as “three inspirational women of courage and vision and commitment,” the Secretary-General said advancing the cause of women will be one of his top priorities during his second term in office.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia (UNMIL) also welcomed today’s announcement and offered its congratulations to the three winners.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Ms. Johnson Sirleaf is running for re-election as her country’s President, with the polls set to take place on Tuesday, and in a statement UNMIL stressed that “the elections are for the Liberian people to decide at the ballot box.”---UN News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

UN hails awarding of Nobel Peace Prize to three women’s activists

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia , speaks at an event on Peace and Security through Women's Leadership at UN Headquarters i...

2011 Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Trio of Liberian, Yemeni Women

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqw1PpV7KEnFmpzIMgM8YZkuElbxh60Ww9RWWkn1DT5TkIJAnDJAlMh0TXm5qCEZ1hqJRzE4AsQoVmm4qV3ikQtjuJZJMb0rlxnGY0Wg4TsW72ZrHyQ0S6pPGnzC9GtEPx_0hLK7iWtD8/s1600/Nobel-Peace-Prizes-230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqw1PpV7KEnFmpzIMgM8YZkuElbxh60Ww9RWWkn1DT5TkIJAnDJAlMh0TXm5qCEZ1hqJRzE4AsQoVmm4qV3ikQtjuJZJMb0rlxnGY0Wg4TsW72ZrHyQ0S6pPGnzC9GtEPx_0hLK7iWtD8/s200/Nobel-Peace-Prizes-230.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni women's rights advocate Tawakkul Karman.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The Norwegian Nobel Committee made the announcement Friday in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oslo</st1:place></st1:city>, saying the three women will split the coveted award for "their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Committee Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland praised the work of the three recipients, saying that "we cannot achieve lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="3" class="MsoNormalTable" style="margin-bottom: 0.1in; margin-left: 3pt; margin-top: 1.2pt; width: 240px;"><tbody>
<tr>   <td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 4.8pt; mso-element-frame-vspace: 3.0pt; mso-element-left: right; mso-element-top: middle; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><strong><span style="font-size: 17pt;">Tawakkul Karman:</span></strong><span style="font-size: 17pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></td>  </tr>
<tr>   <td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 4.8pt; mso-element-frame-vspace: 3.0pt; mso-element-left: right; mso-element-top: middle; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">                              </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 14.5pt;">Karman of Yemen first Arab woman to win Nobel Peace Prize<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 4.8pt; mso-element-frame-vspace: 3.0pt; mso-element-left: right; mso-element-top: middle; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">                              </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 14.5pt;">Mother of three from flashpoint city of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Taiz</st1:city></st1:place> a key figure in anti-government   protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 4.8pt; mso-element-frame-vspace: 3.0pt; mso-element-left: right; mso-element-top: middle; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">                              </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 14.5pt;">Leader of Women Journalists Without Chains human rights group</span><span style="font-size: 14.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></td>  </tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"></span>Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 72, became <st1:place w:st="on">Africa</st1:place>'s first democratically elected female president in 2005. The Nobel Committee praised the Liberian leader for her efforts to secure peace, promote economic and social development and strengthen the position of women.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">In an exclusive VOA interview with James Butty, Sirleaf said she is humbled by the award.  She said it is an award for all the Liberian people, given what they've gone through - 13 years of civil war, the peace process, and democratic elections.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The Liberian leader, in a close re-election campaign leading up to Tuesday's voting, said the Nobel is recognition of "many years of struggle for justice, peace and promotion of development" in her country.  She said "credit goes to the Liberian people."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Thirty-nine year-old Leymah Gbowee, also from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Liberia</st1:place></st1:country-region>, helped to end her country's civil war by encouraging Christian and Muslim women to participate in a series of sit-ins and non-violent demonstrations. In 2002, Gbowee mobilized Liberian women to participate in a "sex strike" until the violence ended. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">She said the award is "a Nobel for African women," adding that there is "no way that anyone can minimize our role anymore."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Meanwhile, 32-year-old activist and journalist Tawakkul Karman was praised for <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">playing a "leading part in the struggle for women's rights and for democracy and peace" in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Yemen</st1:country-region></st1:place>. A leading "Arab Spring" activist in her country, Karman told reporters after winning the prize that she dedicated it to the "youth of the revolution in Yemen," saying it was a victory in her country's uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The committee said it hopes the prize will help bring an end to the "suppression of women that still occurs in many countries."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The three women will share an award of nearly $1.5 million, which they will receive at a ceremony in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oslo</st1:place></st1:city> on December 10.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Last year, the Nobel committee awarded the peace prize to imprisoned Chinese dissident writer and activist Liu Xiaobo, angering the Chinese government. Liu is serving an 11-year prison sentence for what <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> says is "subverting state power."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Past winners include U.S. President Barack Obama in 2009, former Vice President Al Gore in 2007 and former President Jimmy Carter in 2002.  The 2001 prize was split between the United Nations and then Secretary-General Kofi Annan.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The prize was created by Swedish scientist and industrialist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

2011 Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Trio of Liberian, Yemeni Women

The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni w...