Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Three Activist Women
More than 250 people were nominated for the prize this
year, and there had been speculation that the committee
would reward activists from the Middle East who used social
networking sites and other Internet platforms as they
challenged entrenched dictatorships.
But if the committee had singled out the Arab Spring, it
could have courted criticism that, far from rewarding efforts
toward peace, it had chosen a phenomenon whose final
outcome in Egypt and Tunisia is far from clear, and which
has provoked bloodletting and strife in Libya, Syria, Yemen
and Bahrain.
Mr. Jagland said the 2011 prize recognized those “who were
there long before the world’s media was there reporting.”
The announcement in the Norwegian capital followed
intense speculation that the prize would be awarded
variously to a figure from the Arab Spring, the European
Union or exclusively to Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf, 72, a Harvardeducated economist, who has often been cast as a pioneer
in African politics.
She was broadly perceived as a reformer and peacemaker
when she took office after several years in exile.
In Yemen, Ms. Karman has been widely known as a vocal
opponent of the pro-American regime of Mr. Saleh since
2007, leading a human rights advocacy group called
Women Journalists Without Chains. But it was only earlier
this year that her readiness to take to the streets inspired
thousands more in Yemen to do the same.
In Liberia, Ms. Gbowee, 39, was cited by the Nobel
committee for uniting Christian and Muslim women against
her country’s warlords. As head of the Women for Peace
movement, she was praised for mobilizing women “across
ethic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long
war” that had raged for years in Liberia until its end in 2003
and for ensuring “women’s participation in elections.”
Adaptado de: <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/world/nobel-peace-prizejohnson-sirleaf-gbowee-karman.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp>
Acessado em 7 de outubro de 2011.
The Nobel Peace Prize