Liberia’s women in white: the non-violent movement that helped end 14 years of civil war

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

In December 2011, Leymah Gbowee was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her role in helping to end the devastating civil war in Liberia.

She had mobilised thousands of women to take part in daily, non-violent public protests calling for peace – which pressurised ruthless President Charles Taylor into meeting them.

When he agreed to peace talks, a delegation from The Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace followed Taylor to Ghana. When talks stalled, they barricaded the room, refusing to let anyone leave until a peace deal was reached.

Within weeks, after continued pressure from the US and other West African nations, the former warlord had resigned and gone into exile.

Jacqueline Paine speaks to Leymah about her pivotal role in securing peace for Liberia.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Leymah Gbowee with fellow activists. Credit: Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:34.9	check out BBC Sounds.
0:45.7	Hello and welcome to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me, Jacqueline Payne.
0:52.5	Today we're journeying back to 2003 and the peaceful handover of power in the West African Republic of Liberia following years of civil war.
0:55.8	The Liberian national anthem sung at the opening of an extraordinary ceremony.
1:00.2	Charles Taylor, the embattled president, has resigned, declaring, history will be kind to me.
1:05.3	His deputy Moses Blah will act as president until October when an interim administration will take over.
1:17.3	Charles Taylor's reluctant step down came after mounting international pressure from the US and neighbouring West African nations amid claims of war crimes and human rights violations in both Liberia
1:23.3	and neighbouring Sierra Leone.
1:25.4	The interests of the Liberian people, the presidency is not important.
1:32.0	It's not important.
1:33.8	Could we continue fighting?
1:35.6	Yes.
1:37.1	But above all else, the people must matter.
1:41.9	The Liberian President Charles Taylor has flown into exile in Nigeria after stepping down from power at a ceremony in the capital Monrovia.
1:50.8	Charles Taylor's departure is part of an internationally backed process aimed at ending years of instability and civil war.
1:57.7	But amid that conflict and brutality, it was the actions of a peaceful women's group that played a central role in ending the fighting through nonviolent resistance.
	...

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