Three women won the Noble Peace Prize. One woman in Iran won it too!

The Noble Committee for the nomination and winners of the Peace Prize has in recnt years concentrated on women. Those who have contributed to bring peace and justice to their countries. These are positive signs of the recognition of women as a vital force for peace and prosperity.

In 2003, Shirin Ebadi of Iran won the Prize for her efforts to bring justice to the unjust judicial system. She was persecuted, harrased and ultimately driven out of the country. Now she lives in exile persuing the same goals in a braoder scale. 

This year, two women from Liberia Mrs Sirleaft and Ms Gbewee along with Tavakol Karman from the war striken country of Yemen jointly won the Prize. Their nomination demonstrates the fact that despite the male dominated environments, women's efforts can be influential and count. Ms Karman heard of her Prize in the main square of Sa'na, the capital of Yemen where she has camped for months and despite threats and detentions has not given up.

It is important to remember that Yemen is a tribal, male dominated country infested by the Al-Quaida. For a woman to campaign in such hostile environment she must have extraordinary courage and determination. Karman has been pressured by her own family to give up but she has not given up hope. She is representing Journalists Without Chains in Yemen.

Journalists are gagged in most countries across the middle East and Africa. Journalism is a dangerous profession. It creates uneasiness for the rulers as journalists can expose their ruthlessness, their corruption and their true nature. For this, journalist in these countries are under constant threat.

In Iran for example, the number journalists in detention, in prison, on the run and in exile is far more than any other country. Journalism in Iran requires extreme courage and determination. All areas of human rights activities are dangerous teritories in Iran. The Iranian regime with its disregard of international protocols and agreements and international concerns and international condemnations has carried out routingly, systematically and shamelessly the persecution of women's rights activists, human rights activists, students rights activists, workers rights activists and above all the journalists who report of such grave violations.

Let's welcome the women winners of the Noble Peace Prize and hope that they can bring stability and lasting peace to their countries. It will bring the breeze of change to all of us who share the same misery of oppression and suppression.