BY VICTORIA NGOZI IKEANO
victoriangozii@gmail.com 08033077519
For the second consecutive year women have won the Nobel Peace Prize. Altogether 69 women have since its inception in 1901 won the Nobel Prize which is in five categories, namely, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Economics. Understandably, there are more male laureates than females. However, this columnist is more interested in the female laureates and more specifically in women winners of the Nobel prize for peace. I consider the peace prize as the most important of all five types of prizes because peace is the fulcrum for order and harmony from which ensue undisturbed development in joyous activity that makes for upwards progress and leads to real happiness.
Let us delve into some statistics about the Nobel Prize for peace as it relates to women. Overall, 21 females have been awarded this particular prize. The very first woman to win the peace prize was Bertha von Suttner, also described as the first Austrian Laureate, that is, the first female from Austria to be awarded a Nobel Prize. Bertha von Suttner was given the prize in 1905 “for her influential anti-war activism, her leadership in the international peace movement and authoring the famous pacifist novel, Lay down your arms”’. Among other women Nobel peace prize winners are, Mother Teresa, Malala Yousafzai and Narges Mohammadi. Mother Teresa, a nun clinched the prize in 1979, “ for her work for bringing help to suffering humanity”, According to the awarding body this involves, “building homes for orphans, nursing homes for lepers and hospices for the terminally ill” in Calcutta, India through founding a new sisterhood, Missionaries for Charity.
Malala Yousafzai, at just age 17 (the youngest laureate) was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2014 alongside Kailash Sayarthi (as joint winners), “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children teducationn”. Specifically, Malala, a Pakistani was honoured “for her fight for every child to receive education”. In 2012 she literally cheated death when she was shot in the head in a school bus, thereafter fleeing to England to live in exile. She was named among the ‘100 most influential people’ by Time magazine in 2013. “On her 16th birthday she spoke in the United Nations. In her speech Malala called for equal right to education for girls all over the world and became a symbol of this cause”.
With the latest award to South African Navi Pillay, there are now three female African Nobel peace laureates; the others being Wangari Maathai of Kenya (2004) and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Sirleaf was joint winners with Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkoi Karman for “for their non violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”. In particular Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a former Liberian president is described as Africa’s first female democratically elected head of state that “came to power in 2005, creating peace and economic progress in the country. She strengthened women’s rights, expanded freedom of speech and became an example for other African leaders. On her part, Wangari Maathai clinched it “for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace via the Green Belt Movement”.
Narges Mohammadi won it in 2023 for fighting the oppression of women and promoting human rights in Iran. She is said to have been arrested 13 times, sentenced to 31 years in prison with 154 lashes between 1998 and 2023. She was named Nobel peace prize winner whilst still in prison. Also, Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won it last year, 2025. Machado had to be smuggled out of Venezuela with the help of the United States to be able to receive her prize because of restrictions placed on her by her home government. The latest female Nobel peace prize winner (2026) is Navi Pillay, a former South African High Court Judge who also served as head of the United Nations Human Rights court. She was so honoured for “being instrumental in ensuring war crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted”.
All 21 female Nobel Peace winners were mostly activists in one way or another. Their activities are exemplary, worthy of emulation and praise. They were brought to limelight through exposure by the international media which in turn helped propel them to recognition. Still, the efforts of all the Nobel laureates, male and female as well as others working externally in public domains in quest for global peace is like a drop in the ocean. One area that can contribute maximally to world peace is the HOME. The home from where all of us take the first steps into the larger society, the outside world, is the very first place to nurture peaceful citizens in whom is rooted peaceful disposition in all its ramifications. Here, the woman holds sway, here is her high office. She has been imbued by the Creator with the ability to influence every fruit of her womb through high guidance as a guide, guardian and teacher. Unfortunately, we women have trampled and neglected the gifts bestowed on us by the Almighty in pursuit of worldly recognition; we have neglected the home, turned away from our sacred callings, chasing vainglorious sham instead. The result is that we have through our wayward living, unworthy of genuine womanhood, masked by false piety literally stretched our hands to the under-world, dark regions and begetting human beings who are no more than agents of darkness, tormenting everyone with their evil deeds everywhere and peace is eluding mankind. We women bear the greater blame for this sad state of affairs!
