Last Friday the Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 was awarded to three women from Africa and the Arab world in acknowledgment of their non-violent role in promoting peace, democracy and gender equality. This is pretty incredible as very few women indeed are even nominated let alone go on to win. It is also a huge step forward in the fight for female equality in Africa and across the world.

The winners were President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and her fellow Liberian, the peace activist Leymah Gbowee. Also sharing the prize was Tawakkol Karman of Yemen, a pro-democracy campaigner.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the first woman to be elected president in modern Africa and has managed to bring Liberia through years of peace since the lengthy civil war that lasted over 14 years. She has managed to get Liberia’s millions of dollars of debt cancelled and the country’s image changed from one of war to one of positive reconstruction. However her country still faces many of Africa’s major problems including unemployment and disease.

As the prize was announced, Bushuben Keita, a spokesman for Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf’s Unity Party, declared: "We are dancing. This is the thing that we have been saying: progress has been made in Liberia. We’ve come through 14 years of war, and we have come to sustained peace. She’s doing very, very well. Her progress has now been confirmed by the international community."

Ms. Gbowee was voted for by the Nobel committee for uniting Christian and Muslim women against her country’s warlords. As head of the Women for Peace movement, she was praised for mobilizing women "across ethic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war" that had ravaged Liberia for many years (ending in 2003) and for helping to ensure women’s vital participation in elections.

"This whole process of three women receiving the Nobel Peace Prize is really overwhelming," Ms. Gbowee said in a telephone interview in New York. She is currently on a tour promoting her new book "Mighty Be Our Powers" - a memoir about her life in war-torn Liberia. "It’s finally a recognition that we can’t ignore the other half of the world’s population. We cannot ignore their unique skills."