Dec. 10 - Liberia's Nobel Peace Prize laureates speak about their struggles for reconciliation, women's rights and democracy in their home country. Sunita Rappai reports.
Liberian Nobel Peace Prize laureates, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and democracy campaigner Leyman Gbowee meet children at the Nobel Peace Centre in Norway. The two women, who are in Oslo to receive their awards, spoke from the city's Grand Hotel, about the struggles ahead in a country still recovering from a bloody civil war. Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa's first freely elected female head of state, says Liberia's challenges include finding work for its child soldiers. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF SAYING: "Give them a skill, that way they can get a job, a job in many of the operation of which we mobilize such significant investment. So that is the way. For some of those who have at least a little bit of education, we give them scholarships so that they can go back to school. But that is really our biggest challenge, what do we do with the thousands of these young people who have been bypassed." Gbowee, an activist since the age of 17, says the struggle for reconciliation must continue. SOUNDBITE) (English) GBOWEE, SAYING: "In different contexts, in different places, reconciliation means different things. In Liberia today, reconciliation is providing jobs for the underprivileged. Creating space for women who have never been able to tell their stories of rape and abuse to be able to do that. But also just starting a process, like I said earlier from the bottom up, to really begin the process of renewing that culture of hope." The women were awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize along with Yemen's Tawakkok Karman, for their 'non-violent' struggle for women's rights and safety. Sunita Rappai, Reuters