Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Women obtain same opportunities as men (October 24th)

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf the 73 year old President of Liberia has been awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Tawakel Karman of Yemen and Leymah Gbowee also of Liberia. The prize recognized the women “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”. Sirleaf is the first and only elected female head of any state in Africa. Thorbjorn Jagland, a former prime minister of Norway, leads the Nobel committee that chose the winners released the citation for the award stating “We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society”. During her term Sirleaf signed into law a Freedom of Information bill, the first of its kind in West Africa.

1. Inspired by France24 http://ow.ly/6ZmuC image source Agencia Brasil http://ow.ly/6Zm3r

Snorre Serigstad Valen the 26 year old Norwegian pianist, singer and politician nominated the whistle-blower and anti-secrecy website Wikileaks for the 2011 Nobel peace prize, an award conferred by a committee of five people chosen by the Norwegian Parliament. This unique nomination of an internet website that utilizes social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to disseminate state secrets acknowledges the bringing about of immense change to the political landscape, as tyrannical regimes that have traditionally held power over conventional media sources are now unable to control the freedom of the internet. The Norwegian Nobel Committee accepts nominations from many sources including University professors and presidents, former committee members and advisors, former recipients of the award, and in Valen’s case members of national assemblies and governments.

Inspired by Wojciech Moskwa ow.ly/3Psf6 image source Wikipedia ow.ly/3Psdg