MONROVIA, Liberia – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee used different tactics to confront thugs and killers in war-ravaged Liberia, with one challenging a feared warlord for the presidency and the other taking to the streets to denounce armed rapists who were preying on women.
On Friday, their brave deeds were recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize, which they shared with democratic activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen. The prize committee in Oslo, Norway, cited their work on women’s rights, describing it as fundamental to the spread of peace around the world.
“This gives me a stronger commitment to work for reconciliation,” Sirleaf said Friday from her home in Monrovia after hearing of the award. “Liberians should be proud.”
Sirleaf, 72, became Africa’s first democratically elected female president in 2005, after earlier losing to notorious warlord Charles Taylor in 1997 elections. She is running for a second term on Tuesday against stiff opposition, and the Nobel could give her a needed boost.
Critics say that with all the international aid and investment, Liberia’s government should have done better in restoring services and rebuilding the infrastructure ravaged by years of war in the West African nation.
Still, Bineta Diop, founder and executive director of Women Africa Solidarity,
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