Three African Women share 2011 Noble Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to three women, including the president of Liberia Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.Ms Johnson-Sirleaf was handed the honour along with Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen.
The awards are an attempt by the Peace Prize Committee in Oslo to increase the role women play in conflict resolution.It said they were recognised "for their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work".
Ms Johnson-Sirleaf, who dedicated her honour to "all Liberians", is Africa's first democratically elected female president.


Known as the "Iron Lady", she came to power in 2005 and has spent her first term in office strengthening peace in her country and promoting women rights across the African continent. She is running for re-election next week.
Leymah Gbowee brought women together from different religious and ethnic lines as part of ending the Liberian war and then keeping the peace.
She also organised a "sex strike" by women as part of her campaign.
In a nod to the momentous events in the Arab world, the third winner of the \$1.5mn prize was an Arab.
Tawakkul Karman has fought for women's rights, democracy and peace in Yemen for many years and at considerable personal risk through the organisation Woman Journalists Without Chains.
Another "Iron Woman", she dedicated her prize to "the youth of revolution in Yemen and the Yemeni people".
The Peace Prize dates back to the 1895 will of the award creator Alfred Nobel, which contained guidelines about how to pick the winner.
Nobel wrote it should be for those who "work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
In recent years, the Nobel committee has been criticised for its choices.
In 2009, US President Barack Obama won despite holding the Presidency for just a week before nominations closed. This led to the joke that it was a prize "For not being George Bush".
In 2007, the award went to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which some felt did not fall within Nobel's criteria.
Although there have been several occasions when an organisation has won, for example Amnesty International , the UN and the Red Cross , it is more traditional to award it to an individual or individuals.
The winners can use the title Nobel Laureate to further their aims.
This gives them a moral stature which, despite having less impact that it once did, remains unmatched by any other award.