On Feb. 13, Georgetown honored Leymah Gbowee, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and women’s rights advocate who played a major role in ending the Second Liberian Civil War, with an honorary degree.

Gbowee received a Doctor of Humane Letters on the stage of Gaston Hall and delivered a lecture on what peace means to her after years of global peacebuilding. 

The event was part of the university’s annual Oliver Tambo Lecture, a series that honors Oliver Tambo, a late South African leader and anti-apartheid activist, and provides a forum to explore current issues in Africa. Previous speakers in the lecture series have included Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former South African President Thabo Mbeki and Kofi Annan, former secretary-general of the United Nations.

Gbowee was recognized for her work leading the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, a coalition that united Christian and Muslim women in a nonviolent, interfaith movement for peace during Liberia’s second civil war, which began in 1999. The coalition influenced peace negotiations, and Gbowee played an invaluable role in enabling the 2003 peace talks.  

Gbowee’s interreligious engagement and peacebuilding has been highlighted in the 2008 documentary, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, and in her autobiography, Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War. In 2011, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work.

“We honor her tireless advocacy on behalf of women in conflict zones, her promotion of sustainable development, and her commitment to interfaith action to advance the common good,” Lahra Smith, associate professor and director of the African Studies Program, said at the event.