The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...

was jointly awarded to Liberia

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

n President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee

Leymah Gbowee

Leymah Roberta Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women's 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...

, a Liberian peace activist, and Tawakkul Karman, a Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

i journalist, politician and human rights activist, "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work". In announcing the award on 7 October 2011, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee

Norwegian Nobel Committee

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year.Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.-History:...

, Thorbjørn Jagland

Thorbjørn Jagland

is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, currently serving as the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe...

, stressed the link between women's rights

Women's rights

Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...

, peace and democracy

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

.

Nomination and announcement

The winner is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee

Norwegian Nobel Committee

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year.Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.-History:...

 from nominations by others. There were 241 nominations for the 2011 award, which included the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

, WikiLeaks

Wikileaks

WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...

 and individuals connected with the Arab Spring

Arab Spring

The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...

 such as Israa Abdel Fattah

Israa Abdel Fattah

Esraa Abdel Fatah is an Egyptian internet activist and blogger.Esraa worked as a human resources administrator, when she co-founded April 6 Youth Movement Egypt in 2008, a Facebook group that was made to support the workers in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, an industrial town, who were planning to...

 and Wael Ghonim

Wael Ghonim

Wael Ghonim is an Internet activist and computer engineer with an interest in social entrepreneurship....

.

The five members of the Nobel Committee are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament to roughly reflect the party makeup of that body.

Reactions

The reactions from politicians and commentators to the 2011 prize were mainly positive but Winston Tubman

Winston Tubman

Winston A. Tubman is a Liberian diplomat and politician of Americo-Liberian descent. He is a former justice minister and diplomat for the nation and leader of the Congress for Democratic Change Winston A. Tubman (born 1941) is a Liberian diplomat and politician of Americo-Liberian descent. He is a...

 who is to stand against Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the upcoming Liberian general election

Liberian general election, 2011

The 2011 Liberian general election was held on 11 October 2011, with a presidential runoff election held on 8 November 2011. The presidency, as well as all seats in the House of Representatives and half of the seats in the Senate, were up for election...

criticised awarding the prize to her.