2011 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to women activists

Story by The Takeaway. Listen to audio above for full report.

Three women were awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, becoming the first women to win since 2004. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, also of Liberia, and Tawakul Karman of Yemen share the award.

The Norwegian Nobel committee honored the three women for "their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work." Johnson Sirleaf is the first democratically-elected female head of state in Africa, Gbowee is an activist, and Karman is a leading figure in Yemen's pro-democracy movement.

"We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women achieve the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society, said Thorbjorn Jagland, Nobel Committee chairman.

Previous winners have included China's Liu Xiaobo in 2010 and President Barack Obama in 2009. 

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