The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was jointly awarded to three female political activists. Two African and one Asian female were awarded for their persistence in obtaining equal rights for women.

Laureates

The joint laureated were:

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

n President

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Eugenia Johnson Sirleaf (born 29 October 1938) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. Sirleaf was born in Monrovia to a Gol ...

(b. 1938), Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee (b. 1972) and

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

i politician

Tawakkul Karman Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Khalid Karman (; ; born 7 February 1979) is a Yemeni journalist, politician, and human rights in Yemen, human rights activist. She co-founded and leads 'Women Journalists Without Chains', a group established in 2005 to advo ...

(b. 1979) "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work". In announcing the award on 7 October 2011, the chairman of the

Norwegian Nobel Committee The Norwegian Nobel Committee () selects the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize each year on behalf of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel's estate, based on instructions of Nobel's will. Five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. ...

, Thorbjørn Jagland, stressed the link between

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

, peace and

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

Nomination and announcement

The winner is selected by the

from nominations by others. There were 241 nominations for the 2011 award, which included the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...

and individuals connected with the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

such as Israa Abdel Fattah and

Wael Ghonim Wael Ghonim ( ; born 23 December 1980) is an Internet activist and computer engineer with an interest in social entrepreneurship. In 2011, he became an international figure and galvanized pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt after his emot ...

. The

five members The Five Members were Members of Parliament whom King Charles I attempted to arrest on 4 January 1642. King Charles I entered the English House of Commons, accompanied by armed soldiers, during a sitting of the Long Parliament, although the ...

of the Nobel Committee are appointed by the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

to roughly reflect the party makeup of that body.Lundestad, Geir 2012: "The Nobel Peace Prize: 1901-2000", Nobelprize.org. The Committee members may not be current parliament members or government officials.

Reactions

The reactions from politicians and commentators to the 2011 prize were mainly positive but Winston Tubman, who stood against Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the 2011 presidential election, criticised the award, accusing Sirleaf of being "a warmonger"."Winston Tubman: Nobel laureate Sirleaf is 'a warmonger'"
(7 October 2011). ''BBC News''. Retrieved 10 October 2013.

References

{{2011 Nobel Prize winners

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

December 2011 in Europe