I just read that three women- President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Leymah Gbowee of Liberia, and Tawakul Karman of Yemen- have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This is stupendous on a number of levels, so much so that I would have done a jump for joy if I wasn’t so tired (and in public). But on a more personal level, I have decided that this event is worth writing about for this site after several weeks of dealing with more “practical” (read: stressful) matters and doing more creative writing (mainly to distress).
President Johnson Sirleaf is the first women elected head of state of an African country, so it’s not shocking that she would be a contender for the prize. I imagine that the Committee has had her on a longlist for a while and was waiting to see how she would perform as president before finally deciding on her. Notably, she is the second African woman to win the prize (after the recently departed Wangari Muta Maathai) and the first sitting African head of state to win (F.W. deKlerk shared the prize with Mandela in 1993while he was in office, but does that count? And Mandela won it several months before he was elected President of South Africa in 1994). Regardless of your opinions on who bears responsibility for the political environments in sub-Saharan Africa- Is it the colonialists? The banks? The dwindling middle class?- President Johnson Sirleaf’s election as President of Liberia almost a decade ago marked a milestone in African history (yes, there is one) and a challenge to leaders across the continent and around the world. Would the West be more forgiving, in debt and other matters, of a female-led country? Would President Johnson Sirleaf’s counterparts in other countries give her due respect? And would this President, recipient of instantaneous international adoration, be able to maintain a base in her own country that she could use to get things done? In a struggling country where former warlords and perpetrators hold Senate seats and Charles Taylor walked free, the learning curve for the newly-elected president was steep. Today, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is still in office, still leading the recovery of her country, and still the toast of international policymaking circles, although she is facing an election on Tuesday. If she loses, any positive appraisal of her efforts will die down, but regardless of what happens next week, today the Norwegian Nobel Committee selected a personality who should inspire passionate debate- among academics, politicians, and her own people- about her worthiness for the prize, and her efforts as president. In contrast to the snooze-inducing choices the Committee has made in the past, I welcome such debate.
The Committee’s choice to choose three woman also makes a statement that should resonate with citizens around the world: that nonviolent movements can succeed, and that the cause of women’s rights are not separate from, but a part of, any human rights agenda we have. Disparities in income, educational attainment, access to medical care, physical security, and domestic obligations affect women adversely, but considering that these affected women are our mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters, these disparities hurt us too. I remember once hearing that if you educate a woman, you educate a family, so for those of you skeptical of high ideals and noble causes, remember who taught you to count, write, and read. And after you remember that, remember why.
