USD's Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Congratulations 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winners

The Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice (IPJ) at the University of San Diego congratulates the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winners Leymah Gbowee and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Tawakul Karman of Yemen. 

Gbowee and her colleague Vaiba Kebeh Flomo, a participant in the IPJ’s Women PeaceMakers Program last year, were featured in the documentary “Pray the Devil Back to Hell.” Gbowee herself spoke at a previous IPJ conference after a screening of the film, offering insight into her role in the Liberian peace process. 

The recognition of these three outstanding women by the Nobel Committee is an acknowledgment of the continued need for implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325, a key focus of the IPJ for the last decade. As stated in the prize announcement today in Oslo, “In October 2000, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325. … It underlined the need for women to become participants on an equal footing with men in peace processes and in peace work in general.”

The institute is currently hosting the international forum “Women, Media, Revolution,” which brings together journalists, filmmakers and social media activists to examine how women in conflict are using their voices in a revolution against ongoing political and cultural violence. The participants include Prue Clarke, an Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist who founded New Narratives, a project training women journalists in Liberia, and has an article in last week’s Newsweek magazine on President Sirleaf. 

About the University of San Diego

Strengthened by the Catholic intellectual tradition, we confront humanity’s challenges by fostering peace, working for justice and leading with love. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is among the Top 20 Best Private Schools for Making an Impact according to The Princeton Review. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. In 2021, USD was named a “Laudato Si’ University” by the Vatican with a seven-year commitment to address humanity’s urgent challenges by working together to take care of our common home.