Leymah Gbowee

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by The rent is too damn high (talk | contribs) at 05:03, 10 October 2011. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Leymah Roberta Gbowee
Born
Central Liberia
NationalityLiberian
OccupationPeace activist
Known forWomen of Liberia Mass Action for Peace and Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Awards2011 Nobel Peace Prize

Leymah Roberta Gbowee (b. 1972) is an African peace activist responsible for organising a peace movement that brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. This led to the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia, the first African nation with a female president.[1] She, along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Tawakkul Karman, were awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work".[2]

Biography

Leymah Gbowee was born in central Liberia. At the age of 17, she moved to Monrovia, when the First Liberian Civil War erupted. She trained as a trauma counselor during the civil war in Liberia and worked with the ex-child soldiers of Charles Taylor's army.[3] Surrounded by the images of war, she realized that "if any changes were to be made in society it had to be by the mothers".[4] She is a mother of six.[5]

Peace movement

In 2002, Leymah Gbowee was a social worker who organized the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace. The peace movement started with local women praying and singing in a fish market.[6] She organized the Christian and Muslim women of Monrovia, Liberia to pray for peace and to hold nonviolence protests.

Under Leymah Gbowee's leadership, the women managed to force a meeting with President Charles Taylor and extract a promise from him to attend peace talks in Ghana.[7] Gbowee then led a delegation of Liberian women to Ghana to continue to apply pressure on the warring factions during the peace process.[8] They staged a silent protest outside the Presidential Palace, Accra, bringing about an agreement during the stalled peace talks.

Leymah Gbowee and Comfort Freeman, presidents of two different Lutheran churches, organized the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET), and issued a statement of intent to the President: "In the past we were silent, but after being killed, raped, dehumanized, and infected with diseases, and watching our children and families destroyed, war has taught us that the future lies in saying NO to violence and YES to peace! We will not relent until peace prevails."[9]

Their movement brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003 and led to the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia, the first African nation with a female president.

White t-shirts

Dressed in white t-shirts to symbolize peace, and numbering in the thousands, the women became a political force against violence and against their government.[10] They have been successful in petitioning other African governments for peace.[11]

Documentary

Leymah Gbowee is the central character in the 2008 documentary film Pray the Devil Back to Hell. The film has been used as an advocacy tool in post-conflict zones like Sudan and Zimbabwe, mobilizing African women to petition for peace and security.[12]

Awards

Education and training

Certifications: Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Training at the United Nations Institute for Training, the Healing Victims of War Trauma Center in Cameroon, and Non-Violent Peace Education in Liberia [16]

Professional career

Leymah Gbowee is the executive director of the Women Peace and Security Network Africa, based in Accra, Ghana[17] and acts to build relationships across the West African sub-region in support of women’s capacity to prevent, avert, and end conflicts. She is a founding member and former coordinator of the Women in Peacebuilding Program/West African Network for Peacebuilding (WIPNET/WANEP). She also served as the commissioner-designate for the Liberia Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Works

  • Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War, Beast Books (September 13, 2011), ISBN 978-0984295159

See also

See also

References

  1. ^ "African women look within for change". CNN. October 31, 2009.
  2. ^ "The Nobel Peace Prize 2011 – Press Release". Nobelprize.org. 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  3. ^ Leymah Gbowee Biography[dead link]
  4. ^ "2009 Gruber Foundation Women's Rights Prize". Gruberprizes.org. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  5. ^ http://niew-womenincrisis.org/?p=39
  6. ^ "2009 Peace warrior for Liberia". Odemagazine.com. 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  7. ^ "Bio of Gbowee Leymah". Americanprogress.org. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  8. ^ http://www.americanprogress.org/events/2008/11/inf/GboweeLeymah.html
  9. ^ "Womens Peace Movement Of Liberia". Myhero.com. 2008-09-29. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  10. ^ a b "Bill Moyers Journal, June 19, 2009". Pbs.org. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  11. ^ West African Women Demand Peace In Cote D'Ivoire[dead link]
  12. ^ November 2009 MEDIAGLOBAL[dead link]
  13. ^ Seltzer, Sarah (2007-12-24). "2008 – Seven Who Topple Tyrannies". Womensenews.org. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  14. ^ Living Legends Award for Service to Humanity[dead link]
  15. ^ "John Jay Justice Awards". Jjay.cuny.edu. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  16. ^ "Making Peace Work for Women". Womenpeacesecurity.org. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  17. ^ "Hunt Alternatives Fund, Directory of Women Experts". Huntalternatives.org. Retrieved 2011-10-07.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Leymah Gbowee.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
with Tawakel Karman and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
2011 		Most recent

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leymah_Gbowee&oldid=454821983"