Announcement of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman, presented by Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, on 7 October 2011.

Following the announcement, Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee was interviewed by freelance journalist Geir Helljesen regarding the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. Jagland described what the Committee was hoping to achieve in awarding this year’s prize, describing how he would characterize the prize and what message it might send to the Arab world. He also summarized how this prize fit with the selection criteria outlined in the will of Alfred Nobel.

After the announcement of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, Geir Lundestad, Director of the Nobel Institute and Permanent Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, told freelance journalist Geir Helljesen why the selection of this year’s prize was an ‘important decision’. He also described how the prize relates to past prizes, how the popularity of the Nobel Peace Prize itself is increasing and what his personal top three favourite prizes selections are from the Committee’s 110 year history.