OSLO - Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, announced the decision on Friday to give the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman for "their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace building work".

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the president of Liberia, and Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist responsible for organizing a peace movement that brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003, while Tawakkul Karman is a prominent activist in Yemen.

The prize money will be shared equally among the three winners of this year's prize, said the statement issued by the Nobel committee.

Xinhua