Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Leymah Gbowee received an honorary doctorate at the Rhodes graduation ceremony on Friday, pointing out that recognition for her work had come first on home ground – Rhodes University had offered her the honorary doctorate long before she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Leymah Gbowee received an honorary doctorate at the Rhodes graduation ceremony on Friday, pointing out that recognition for her work had come first on home ground – Rhodes University had offered her the honorary doctorate long before she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Gbowee's Nobel Peace Prize was for her contribution in the struggle for the safety and the rights of women to participate in peace-building. Gbowee shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Liberia’s President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Yemeni women's rights activist, Tawakkol Karman.
Gbowee is currently still working in her organisation, Women in Peace and Security Network, that is based in Liberia, Accra and Ghana, fostering women’s participation in fighting for peace and their security in Africa.
Their vision is to develop a non-violent, non-discriminating continent, that allows the full participation of women. Gbowee said that as a result of poverty, too many girls were becoming mothers. Through this organisation and groups like Girl Talk, she was fighting their right of education and thus a chance of a better life. Gbowee said what enraged her more than anything else were the rape statistics in Africa – especially in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo.
She finished by saying how these women continued to get up and live – that they still had the will to survive. “They are the strength of this continent” said Gbowee. She criticised local media for portraying Africans as weaklings, saying they published only the bad stories.
Referring to the way the continent still treats women, Gbowee said, “Africa is doing a very [sorry]job. Men still see women’s role as basic.” Talking about her work as an activist, Gbowee said it was a lot of hard work. “You must have that passion – fire in your belly.”
