Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Leymah Gbowee

Tawakkul Karman

Today we would like to spotlight a changemaking team who captured the real spotlight this weekend. Ellen, Leymah and Tawakkul were jointed awarded the 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.” 

“We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women acquire the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society”, stated the Nobel committee. To celebrate the historic milestone, from Cambodia to Colombia to the Congo, women are holding “Rise with the Prize” gatherings to publicly support and further the award’s socio-political impact—a true testament that women hold up “half the sky”.

Listen to Laureate Leymah Gbowee's thoughts on the Prize 

Who She Is: Shirin Edabi is the first ever Iranian, and the first Muslim woman to ever have received the Nobel Peace Prize. On October 10^th, 2003, the prize was awarded to Ebadi "for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children.” Her significant and pioneering efforts on behalf of democracy and human rights, particularly those of women, children, and refugees were instrumental in the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision.

Why We Love Her: Shirin Ebadi is a human rights activist and a campaigner for strengthening the legal rights and status of women and children in Iran. She was born in 1947 in Hamadan, Iran and received a law degree from the University of Tehran and, in 1975, became the first female judge in Iran. However, four years later in 1979, she was forced to resign her position due to conservative clerics who took control of the country following the Iranian Revolution and introduced severe restrictions on the role of women in the nation. Since that time, Ebadi has begun a long battle against Iran’s clerics for women’s equality and rights for children, workers, artists, and others. As an attorney, she specializes in the cases of dissidents, women and children. She has been involved in a number of controversial political cases and has been imprisoned several times.

In 1996, Human Rights Watch honored Ms. Ebadi as a leading human rights defender for her contribution to the cause of human rights in Iran. She has published many books that have been translated into English such as The Rights of the Child. A Study of Legal Aspects of Children's Rights in Iran (1994, published with support from UNICEF), History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran (2000) and Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope (2006). Time Magazine named Ebadi one of 2004's top 100 most influential people.

She is the president and Co-Founder of the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, a leading human rights organization in Iran. Based in Tehran, the organization has actively defended the rights of women, political prisoners, and minorities in Iran. Due to the increase in persecution aimed at critics of the current Iranian regime, Ebadi has lived in exile in the United Kingdom since June 2009.

Quote:

“Human rights is a universal standard. It is a component of every religion and every civilization.”

Links:

The Nobel Peace Prize 2003

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2003/

Center for the Defense of Human Rights

http://www.humanrights-ir.org/english/

Who She Is: Wangari Maathai is the first African woman and the first environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee lauded her for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace.” Maathai is the founder of the Green Belt Movement, an environmentalist, democracy promoter and women’s rights activist. She is the first woman in central or eastern Africa to hold a Ph.D. and the first female head of a university department in Kenya. She was elected to parliament with a stunning 98% of the vote in December 2002 and was subsequently appointed by the president to the position of Assistant Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife in Kenya's ninth parliament.

Why We Love Her: In 1977, Maathai started the Green Belt Movement as a grassroots tree planting program aimed at addressing the problems of deforestation, soil erosion, and water shortages. The Green Belt Movement has become one of the world’s most prominent women’s civil society organizations. Based in Kenya, it advocates for human rights, good governance and peaceful democratic change through the protection and preservation of the environment. Its stated mission is to empower communities worldwide to protect the environment and to promote good governance and cultures of peace. In protecting the environment, the women of the Green Belt Movement are becoming powerful champions for sustainable management of scarce resources such as water, equitable economic development, good political governance, and, ultimately, peace.

Today, more than 40 million trees have been planted across Africa. As a result, soil erosion has been reduced in critical watersheds, thousands of acres of biodiversity-rich indigenous forest have been restored and protected, and hundreds of thousands of women and their families are standing up for their rights and those of their communities and are living healthier, more productive lives. Over the next decade, the Green Belt Movement has set a goal of planting one billion trees worldwide. The hope exists that every individual can take part in protecting the environment and creating a healthy natural world that is at the heart of a more equitable and peaceful society.

Wangari Maathai has been recognized internationally for her work in support of democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. She has addressed the UN on several occasions and spoke on behalf of women at special sessions of the General Assembly for the five-year review of the earth summit. Additionally, she was listed on the United Nation Environment Programme's Global 500 Hall of Fame and named one of the 100 heroines of the world.

“It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.”

“I placed my faith in the rural women of Kenya from the very beginning, and they have been key to the success of the Green Belt Movement. Through this very hands-on method of growing and planting trees, women have seen that they have real choices about whether they are going to sustain and restore the environment or destroy it. In the process of education that takes place when someone joins the Green Belt Movement, women have become aware that planting trees or fighting to save forests from being chopped down is part of a larger mission to create a society that respects democracy, decency, adherence to the rule of law, human rights, and the rights of women. Women also take on leadership roles, running nurseries, working with foresters, planning and implementing community-based projects for water harvesting and food security. All of these experiences contribute to their developing more confidence in themselves and more power over the direction of their lives.”

http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/