School of Diplomacy to Host Liberian Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Activist  

The School of Diplomacy and International Relations will host Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, a winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, as its World Leaders Forum speaker on Thursday, November 20.

Gbowee, the true embodiment of servant leadership, organized and led the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that helped end her country’s devastating 14-year civil war in 2003. Under Gbowee's leadership, thousands of women staged pray-ins and nonviolent protests demanding reconciliation and the resuscitation of high-level peace talks, coordinated a "sex strike" and introduced other innovative nonviolent measures that gained worldwide recognition for their cause. The pressure pushed President Charles Taylor into exile, and led to the election of Africa’s first female head of state.

In 2006, she cofounded the Women Peace and Security Network Africa. Two years later, she was featured in the acclaimed documentary film "Pray the Devil Back to Hell," and, in 2011, she published a memoir called "Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer and Sex Changed a Nation at War."

The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Gbowee, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Tawakkol Karman "for their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work."

Gbowee now travels around the world to speak about the devastating effects of war and gender-based violence, and is founder and president of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, which provides educational and leadership opportunities to girls, women and youth.

Her visit to Seton Hall will help celebrate the School of Diplomacy’s recently launched Peace and Conflict Studies research center, as well as the new certificate program in Post-Conflict State Reconstruction and Sustainability. This event is also sponsored by the Seton Hall University Leadership Forum.

Tickets for this event are free and open to the public. 

• Tickets will be available for pickup by current Seton Hall School of Diplomacy students with University ID beginning Monday, September 29 in the School’s Main Office, 1^st Floor McQuaid Hall.
  
  
• Ticketing for the Seton Hall community and members of the general public will open on Monday, October 6. Please visit www.shu.edu/go/WLF2014 on October 6 to secure electronic tickets. A suggested donation of $15 is appreciated.