Leymah Gbowee leaves Ghana for Norway to receive Noble Peace Prize

Leymah Gbowee, a co-winner of the 2011 Noble Peace Prize will leave Ghana tonight December 7, 2011 to pick the award in Oslo, Norway, an official at her Ghana-based organisation has said.

Gbowee, founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN-Africa) located in Ghana’s capital Accra won the Prize together with Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Yemen peace activist Tawakkul Karman. The Prize was announced Friday October 7, 2011.

The official tells ghanabusinessnews.com today December 7, 2011 that “She will leave tonight for the award…she will return late December 2011 or early January 2012 because there will be a lot of activities in Norway.”

WIPSEN-Africa was established on May 8, 2006 under the laws of the Republic of Ghana as a women-focused, women-led Pan-African Non-Governmental Organization with the core mandate to promote women’s strategic participation and leadership in peace and security governance in Africa.

Information also reaching ghanabusinessnews.com indicates that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will also leave Liberia today for Oslo for the award ceremony.

By Ekow Quandzie