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The Nobel peace prize is one of the five annual international awards bestowed to individuals in a number of categories in recognition of their academic, cultural and or scientific advances.
Since the inception of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, there have been 12 Nobel Laureates from Africa selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, with the latest being Ethiopian Prime Minister H.E. Abiy Ahmed Ali. The 43-year-old was named this year's recipient of the coveted annual prize and was awarded October 11.
The prime minister of Ethiopia, was awarded the 100th Nobel Peace Prize in recognition for his work to end the decades of conflict between Ethiopia and neighbouring Eritrea.
Of the award Abiy said "I am so humbled and thrilled ... Thank you very much. It is a prize given to Africa, given to Ethiopia, and I can imagine how the rest of Africa's leaders will take it positively to work on peace building process in our continent."
The father of four daughters and a recently adopted son, had a clean score that warranted him the win of the award. In the criteria set out by Alfred Nobel in his will back in 1895, he specified that the peace prize should go to "the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses."
Here Africans who have won the globally coveted award.
1.Wangari Maathai, Kenya, 2004
Professor Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Award in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
She was an environmentalist and founder of the Green Belt Movement.
The Nobel committee acknowledged her efforts in standing up courageously against the former oppressive regime in Kenya. Her unique forms of action contributed to drawing attention to political oppression – nationally and internationally.
They termed her as an inspiration for many in the fight for democratic rights and especially encouragement to women. Born in 1940, Wangari Maathai was the first woman from Africa to be honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize.
Maathai was a pioneer from an early age and in many spheres. After winning a scholarship to study in the US, she returned to a newly independent Kenya, becoming the first woman in east and central Africa to obtain a PhD. Maathai was also the first woman professor the University of Nairobi, where she taught veterinary medicine.
Her work with voluntary groups alerted her to the struggles of women in rural Kenya, and it quickly became her life's cause. Noticing how the rapid environmental degradation was affecting women's lives, she encouraged them to plant trees to ensure future supplies of firewood and to protect water sources and crops.
Maathai served as an assistant minister in President Mwai Kibaki's government from 2003 to 2005, but her refusal to keep silent on some issues saw her politically sidelined, and she lost her seat after a single term. Her work schedule remained hectic however, and she wrote several books and travelled widely.
She died in September 25, 2011 at Nairobi Hospital having succumbed to cancer the age of 71.
2.Albert Luthuli, South Africa ,1960
Albert Luthuli was the first African and the first person from outside Europe and the Americas to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Luthuli was awarded the prestigious award in 1960 for his role in championing for non-violent resistance to racial discrimination in South Africa.
The Nobel Committee describes Luthuli as 'A man of noble bearing, charitable, intolerant of hatred, and adamant in his demands for equality and peace among all men." Luthuli was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence, he became the spokesman for a campaign of civil disobedience directed against South Africa's policy of racial segregation, and spearheaded several demonstrations and strikes against the white minority government.
He was born in 1898 and was elected president of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1952. During his acceptance speech, Luthuli noted that the award was a recognition of sacrifice made by many of all races, particularly the African people, who had endured and suffered for long.
Luthuli died at the age of 69, in 1967 after a fatal accident near his home in Stanger, now known as KwaDukuza in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
3.Anwar al-Sadat, Egypt, 1978
Anwar al-Sadat President of Egypt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize together with Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel.
The two were awarded in 1978 for their contribution to the two frame agreements on peace in the Middle East and on peace between Egypt and Israel. The peace treaty which were signed at Camp David, USA in September 17, 1978.
The third President of Egypt was born on December 25, 1918. He took power on October 15, 1970. During his presidency, he changed the political and economic landscape of Egypt.
One of his notable change was his efforts towards building comprehensive peace agreement with Israel and return of Sinai to Egypt which Israel had occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967.
In November 1977, Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel officially when he met with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and spoke before the assembly in Jerusalem about his views on how to achieve a comprehensive peace to the Arab–Israeli conflict, which included the full implementation of UN Resolutions that sought the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
Sadat was assassinated 1981.
4.Arch-Bishop Desmond Tutu, South Africa, 1984
Arch-Bishop Desmond Tutu, South Africa.
Desmond Tutu is a world-renowned preacher, human rights activist and a strident voice against apartheid.
The retired Anglican Bishop won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in resolving and ending apartheid in South Africa.
The Nobel Committee saluted him for his clear views and his fearless stance, characteristics which had made him a unifying symbol for all African freedom fighters. Known as the voice of the voiceless Black South Africans he was an outspoken critic of apartheid.
Tutu supported the economic boycott of South Africa, while constantly encouraging reconciliation between various factions associated with apartheid.
Tutu was born of mixed Xhosa and Motswana heritage to a poor family in 1931 in Klerksdorp, Transvaal, South Africa, he went on to become the first Black Anglican Archbishop of both Cape Town and Johannesburg.
He has travelled extensively, championing human rights and the equality of all people, both within South Africa and internationally. He has also focused on drawing awareness to issues such as poverty, AIDS and non-democratic governments in the Third World.
Tutu gained many international awards and honorary degrees, particularly in South Africa, the United Kingdom, and United States. By 2003, he had approximately 100 honorary degrees.
He is also the author of seven collections of sermons and other writings.
If the late Madiba never won a Nobel Peace Prize, probably it would be out of vendetta. Born in 1918, Mandela was elected was elected leader of the youth wing of the ANC (African National Congress) liberation movement in early 1950's.
When the country's white minority government prohibited the ANC in 1960, Mandela became convinced that armed struggle was inevitable. Inspired by the guerrilla wars in Algeria and Cuba, he organised a military underground movement that engaged in sabotage.
In 1962 he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for high treason and conspiracy against the state.
From 1964 to 1982 he was confined to the notorious prison island Robben Island, together with several other resistance leaders. He was then moved to a prison on the mainland until his release in 1990. After the release, Mandela intensified his battle against oppression.
He was awarded The Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 jointly with the then President Frederik Willem de Klerk for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.
Mandela became South Africa's democratically elected president in 1994 an office he held until 1999 when he retired after only one term, which is quite unusual of African Presidents.
Tata Madiba's death was announced by former South Africa's President Jacob Zuma on national television on December 6, 2013. His funeral was a global affair, attended by the who is who in the world including the then US President Barrack Obama, another Nobel Peace Prize Laureate of Kenyan Origin.
6.Frederik Willem de Klerk, South Africa, 1993
FW de Klerk was born in 1936 in Johannesburg to senator Jan de Klerk, a leading politician who became a minister in the South African government.
FW de Klerk was South Africa's President during apartheid. After assuming office in 1989, he called for a non-racist South Africa and announced his policy of reform, he hoped to create a suitable climate for negotiations which would end apartheid and bring about a new constitutional dispensation for South Africa, based on the principle of one person, one vote.
He then lifted the ban on the ANC and released Nelson Mandela. After the release of Mandela, negotiations together with other party leaders were held for the peaceful end of apartheid and transition to democratic rule. He was awarded The Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 together with Nelson Mandela for their efforts to bring reforms in South Africa.
7.Koffi Atta Annan, Ghana, 2001
Koffi Atta Annan.
In 2001 Ghana's Kofi Annan the then UN Secretary was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the United Nations for their work for a better organised and more peaceful world.
Kofi Annan was born in Ghana in 1938. He served as the as the seventh Secretary-General of The United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006.
He received the Peace Prize for having revitalised the UN and for having given priority to human rights. The Nobel Committee also recognised his commitment to the struggle to contain the spreading of the HIV virus in Africa and his declared opposition to international terrorism.
In Kenya Koffi helped in the mediation that helped settle the post-election skirmishes in 2007-08.
Koffi died on August 18, 2018 in Bern Switzerland.
8.Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt, 2005
Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) received the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the UN's nuclear watchdog IAEA for their efforts for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.
The Nobel committee noted that ElBaradei had done much in strengthening the IAEA as an organisation and the increasing accession to the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
Mohamed ElBaradei was born in Cairo in 1942. Before becoming head of the IAEA he had worked for a number of years as an Egyptian diplomat and in the United Nations.
9.Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia, 2011
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
The Harvard trained economist was born October 29, 1938, Monrovia, Liberia. She was president of Liberia between 2006–18.
Sirlieaf was the first woman to be elected head of state of an African country.
The former President of Liberia was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 alongside peace activist Lymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work.
Sirleaf was elected as Liberia's president in 2005 just two years after the bloody civil wars that ravaged the country for more than a decade had just ended.
As the first female head of state ever to be democratically elected in Africa, she has worked to promote peace, reconciliation and social and economic development.
10.Lymah Gbowee, Liberia, 2011
Lymah Gbowee, is a women's rights champion and she received the Nobel Prize jointly with her president alongside Tawakkol Karman from Yemen.
During the civil war that ravaged Liberia, Gbowee called together women from different ethnic and religious groups in the fight for peace.
Dressed in white T-shirts they held daily demonstrations at the fish market in Monrovia. After having collected money she led a delegation of Liberian women to Ghana to put pressure on the warring factions during the peace-talk process.
This played a decisive role in ending the war. Gbowee also worked to help those who suffered psychological trauma during the civil war in Liberia, including child soldiers.
11.National Dialogue Quartet, Tunisia, 2015
The National Dialogue Quartet is a group of four organisations that were central in the attempts to build a plurality democracy in the wake of a revolution in Tunisia in 2011.
The quartet is made up of; the Tunisian General Labor Union, the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, the Tunisian Human Rights League, and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers.
The group succeeded in creating a peaceful dialogue. Through a mediating role, the quartet allowed political and religious divides to be bridged, and a democratic development followed.
They were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011.
The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media
platforms spanning newspaper print operations, television, radio broadcasting,
digital and online services. The Standard Group is recognized as a leading
multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and
international interest.
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