(Newser)
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This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to three women the Nobel committee wants to reward for "their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work." The prize will be shared between Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is Africa's first democratically elected female president; Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee; and Yemeni human rights activist Tawakul Karman.
Johnson Sirleaf and Gbowee played vital roles in bringing peace to Liberia and strengthening the position of women there, while Karman "played a leading part in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen" even before the Arab Spring began, the committee writes. The prize, they hope, "will help to bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many countries, and to realize the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent." Click to see this week's other winners.
