The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has been presented to three women at a ceremony in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.

2011年诺贝尔和平奖在挪威首都奥斯陆颁发，三位女士荣获殊荣。

This year's award was won jointly¹ by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the president of Liberia, Leymah Gbowee, the Liberian peace activist², and Yemeni pro-democracy campaigner Tawakkol Karman.

They were recognised for their "non-violent struggle" for women's safety and for women's rights to participate in peace-building work.

Each of this year's winners was presented with a gold medal and a diploma.

The prize money of $1.5 million (£958,000) will be shared between them.

'Humbled³ and honoured'

Mrs Sirleaf, 72, is Africa's first elected female head of state and is credited with helping⁴ to end Liberia's 14 year civil war. The announcement of her award came days before the country's presidential election.

She went on to win a run-off poll last month but her rival boycotted⁵ the vote alleging⁶ the first round was rigged（作弊的） .

The Liberian president told delegates that she was honoured to be following in the footsteps of the Africans who had won the prize before her, including South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Kofi Annan, the Ghana-born former UN secretary-general.

Mrs Sirleaf also expressed her "deepest sympathy" for the people of Norway in the wake of the twin attacks carried out by Anders Behring Breivik on 22 July that led to the deaths of 77 people.

"On behalf of all the women of Liberia, the women of Africa, and women everywhere in the world who have struggled for peace, justice and equality, I accept with humility⁷ the 2011 Nobel Prize for Peace," she said.

Ms Gbowee, 39, led a peaceful campaign to end Liberia's civil war and oust⁸（驱逐，取代） its ex-President Charles Taylor.

She said: "I am humbled and honoured to have been selected and I receive the prize in the name of women who continue to work for peace, equality and justice across the world."

"I believe that the prize this year not only recognises our struggle in Liberia and Yemen.

"It is in recognition and honour of the struggles of grass roots women in Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire [Ivory Coast], Tunisia, in Palestine and Israel, and in every troubled corner of the world."

Ms Karman, a 32-year-old mother of three, founded the organisation⁹ Women Journalists Without Chains in 2005 and becomes the first Arab woman to win the prize.