Nobels fredspris 2011

När jag hörde om vilka som fick Nobels fredspris 2011 blev jag överlycklig. 3 kvinnor från ett område som ligger nära våra hjärtan. Och när jag hörde motiveringen så kände jag att flera av våra medarbetare hade också kvalificerat till fredspriset. För motiveringen lät nästan exakt lika som de projektbeskrivningar jag läst igenom i Mellanöstern och Nord Afrika. Jag är så stolt och glad över att vara kvinna idag, men också att jag får vara med och arbeta med just kvinnans rätt i samhället i Mellanöstern och Nord Afrika. 

Här är motiveringen tagen från  http://nobelpeaceprize.org

Nobel Peace Prize 2011

Announcement

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 is to be divided in three equal parts between Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work. 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.

In October 2000, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325. The resolution for the first time made violence against women in armed conflict an international security issue. It underlined the need for women to become participants on an equal footing with men in peace processes and in peace work in general.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Africa’s first democratically elected female president. Since her inauguration in 2006, she has contributed to securing peace in Liberia, to promoting economic and social development, and to strengthening the position of women. Leymah Gbowee mobilized and organized 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. She has since worked to enhance the influence of women in West Africa during and after war. In the most trying circumstances, both before and during the "Arab spring", Tawakkul Karman has played a leading part in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen.

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.

Oslo, 7 October 2011.