Interview, December 2011

Interview transcript

[Leymah Gbowee] Hello?

[Adam Smith] Hello. May I speak to Leymah Gbowee please?

[LG] Leymah speaking.

[AS] Oh, hello! My name’s Adam Smith. I’m calling from the official website of the Nobel Prize in Stockholm, Sweden.

[JG] OK.

[AS] Congratulations on the award.

[JG] Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.

[AS] Thank you, it’s wonderful news. We have a tradition of recording just tiny interviews on the telephone with new Laureates. Would you speak to me for just two minutes?

[JG] Sure.

[AS] Thank you. May I ask what message you hope this prize sends to the world?

[JG] That the other 50 percent of the world – the women of the world – that their skills, talents and intelligence should be utilized. And I think this message is a resounding agreement to all of our advocacies over the years. That truly women have a place, truly women have a face and truly the world has not been functioning well without the input, in every sphere, of women.

[AS] That’s a wonderful message, thank you. And may I ask, when you were protesting for the end of the civil war in Liberia, armed with only white t-shirts, what gave you hope that you would succeed?

[JG] My hope was in those women who came on a daily basis – women who had been broken, women who had been abused, who had watched or observed the worst – their commitment, their perseverance, their passion for bringing peace to Liberia, that was my hope.

[AS] Thank you for speaking to us and congratulations again.

[JG] Thank you.

[AS] Thank you, good bye.

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