Nobel Peace Prize winner joins UAE multi-faith committee

Leymah Gbowee, from Liberia, joins the group dedicated to carry forward the values of the Human Fraternity Document

Nobel Peace Prize winner, Leymah Gbowee, at a conference about strengthening women's participation in peace processes, in Rome last year. Claudio Peri / EPA

Leymah Gbowee, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, has joined the UAE's Higher Committee of Human Fraternity.

The Liberian peace activist was announced as the 10th member of the committee as officials met in Abu Dhabi this week to mark the one year anniversary of the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula.

The multi-faith committee was formed in August last year to carry forward the values of the Human Fraternity Document, a document signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, one year ago.

Ms Gbowee won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work leading the group Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, which helped end the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003.

She was also director of the Women Peace and Security Network Africa in Ghana, which supported women across West Africa in preventing, averting and ending conflicts.

“We are delighted to welcome Leymah to the Committee as we pursue our action plan to achieve the aspirations set out in the document on human fraternity and we look forward to benefiting from her expertise and passion, especially on youth issues which are a central focus for the Committee as we look to the future,” the committee’s secretary general, Mohammed Abdel Salam, said.