The Nobel Prize is an international prize awarded annually since 1901 for achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Economics Literature, and Peace. The Prizes have been to over 800 individuals, 29 of which are Africans three of which are women. Wangari Maathai of Kenya was the first African woman to receive the prize in 2004, she was honored for her work in defense of the environment and human rights. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee of Liberia were awarded in 2011 for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work. Here is a history of African Women who have won the Nobel Prize.
Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan environmental, and political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Prize. She is also an academic and intellectual with significant contributions to ecology, development, gender, and African cultures and religions. She is the first woman in East and Central Africa to become a Doctor of Philosophy. Maathai became prominent in the international scene after founding the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women’s rights.
The Green Belt Movement aside from serving as a response to the environmental concerns raised by rural Kenyan women, carried out pro-democracy activities such as registering voters for the election and pressing for constitutional reform and freedom of expression. This put the movement and Maathai in a conflicting position with the authoritarian Kenya government at the time, leading to her arrest on multiple occasions. She was also jailed on multiple occasions
In order to carry out more important reforms in her home country, Maathai campaigned for parliament in the 2002 elections and won with an overwhelming 98% of the vote. She was appointed Assistant Minister in the Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources in 2003 and served in that capacity until November 2005. In 2004, Maathai was awarded the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her “contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace, becoming the first African woman, and the environmentalist, to win the Award.
Read More:
- Wangari Maathai: The First African Woman To Win The Nobel Peace Prize
- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: First Female President In Africa
- A History of Female Prime Ministers In The United Kingdom.
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018 and the first elected Female President In Africa. She was also elected as the Chair of the Economic Community of West African States in 2016, making her the first woman to hold the position since it was created. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, recognizing her efforts to bring women into the peacekeeping process, and has received numerous other awards for her leadership.
Ellen began her political career, working in the administration of William Tolbert, the 20th president of Liberia. She was appointed as Assistant Minister of Finance and was subsequently, the Minister of Finance until the government was toppled in a military coup. She left the country and did a few stints with the World Bank, the African Regional Office of Citibank, and the United Nations
Ellen resigned from her role in the United Nations in 1997 to run for the presidency of Liberia. She however lost the election which was deemed controversial by international observers. She however recontested and won the 2005 general election, becoming the first woman to be elected as president of an African country.
During her presidency, Ellen promoted national reconciliation by bringing in opposition leaders into her administration. She carried out numerous reforms and cleared the country’s national debt. She is considered by many the best president the country has ever had. In 2011, Ellen was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakkol Karman of Yemen. The three women were recognized “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”
Leymah Gbowee
Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women’s nonviolent peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Her efforts to end the war, along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, helped usher in a period of peace She and Ellen, along with 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.”
Leymah is the founder and president of Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, founded in 2012 and based in Monrovia, which provides educational and leadership opportunities to girls, women, and the youth in Liberia. She is the former executive director of the Women Peace and Security Network Africa, based in Accra, Ghana, which builds relationships across the West African sub-region in support of women’s capacity to prevent, avert, and end conflicts.
Leymah speaks internationally to advance women’s rights, peace, and security. She served as the commissioner-designate for the Liberia Truth and Reconciliation Commission. From 2012 to 2014, She served on the High-Level Task Force for the International Conference on Population and Development. Trained as a trauma counselor, Leymah worked with girls and women who were raped during the war, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
