100 Women
100 Women
BBC World Service
When Wangari Maathai Won the Nobel Peace Prize
9 minutes Posted Dec 7, 2016 at 10:45 am.
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In 2004, Kenyan Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She was an environmentalist and human rights activist who founded the Green Belt Movement in the 1970s. She focused on the planting of trees, conservation, and women's rights but repeatedly clashed with the government while trying to protect Kenya's forest and parks. Witness speaks to her daughter, Wanjira Mathai.