Born in 1972, in central Liberia. She was living in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, when the first Liberian Civil War broke out, Leymah was only 17 at the time. She bore witness to the effects of war on her fellow Liberians and later decided to become a trauma counsellor for former child soldiers. A second civil war broke out in 1999, bringing systemic rape and other brutalities to an already war-weary country. In response to the conflict, Leymah formed a multi-religious coalition of Christian and Muslim women and organized the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement. Under Leymah's leadership, thousands of women staged group prayers and peaceful protests, demanding reconciliation and peace talks, at the highest levels of government. Intense pressure forced President Charles Taylor into exile, making way for Africa's first female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Her philanthropic journey was documented in the film, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, which won Best Documentary, at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.
Leymah earned a master's degree in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University, in the US, while continuing to advocate for women's agency in the fight for peaceful stability. She's a founding member and former coordinator for Women in Peacebuilding/West African Network for Peacebuilding. Leymah also co-founded Women Peace & Security Network Africa, to promote international peace building efforts and transform women victims of war, into "mobilized armies for peace". Leymah was a member of both the African Feminist Forum and African Women's Leadership Network on Sexual & Reproductive Rights and commissioner for the Liberia Truth & Reconciliation Commission, these roles helped Leymah to specifically address the vulnerability of women & children in societies torn apart by war.
In 2011, Leymah won the Nobel Peace Prize, for her work in leading a women's peace movement that helped bring an end to the second Liberian civil war, in 2003. She shared the award with fellow Liberian, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Yemeni-native, Tawakkol Karman. Leymah and Ellen became the 2nd and 3rd women to win the prize, the first was Wangari Maathai, of Kenya. Since winning the Nobel Peace Prize, she has travelled all over the globe to speak about the destructive effects of war and gender-based violence.
She's been featured on a number of international television programmes including, CNN, BBC & France24. Leymah's message focuses on the inclusion of women in conflict-resolution. She has received honorary degrees from several universities including Rhodes University, in South Africa, University of Alberta, in Canada, Polytechnic University, in Mozambique and University of Dundee, in Scotland. After she received the Barnard College Medal of Distinction, in 2013, she was named Distinguished Fellow in Social Justice. In her current position as President of Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, Leymah advocates for more inclusion of women as leaders and agents for change.
"When you've lived true fear for so long, you have nothing to be afraid of. I tell people I was 17 when the war started in Liberia. I was 31 when we started protesting. I have taken enough dosage of fear that I have gotten immune to fear."
"It is time to stand up, sisters, and do some of the most unthinkable things. We have the power to turn our upside-down world right."
https://nobelwomensinitiative.org/laureate/leymah-gbowee/
YOU ARE READING
Female Rebels & Activists
Nonfiksi"We need women who are so strong they can be gentle, so educated they can be humble, so fierce they can be compassionate, so passionate they can be rational and so disciplined they can be free" ...
