The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Democratic Republic of Congo’s Dr Denis Mukwege and Yazidi rape victim, Nadia Murad.
The announcement was made at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Sweden on Friday. The details of the ceremony was shared on the Twitter handle of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, @NobelPrize.
The Academy tweeted, “The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018 to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.”
The award was presented by Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
According to the Academy, “the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr Denis Mukwege is the helper who has devoted his life to defending victims of war-time sexual violence.
“Dr Mukwege, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has spent large parts of his adult life helping the victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Dr Mukwege and his staff have treated thousands of patients who have fallen victim to such assaults.”
“This year’s Peace Laureate Denis Mukwege has repeatedly condemned impunity for mass rape and criticised the Congolese government and other countries for not doing enough to stop the use of sexual violence against women as a strategy and weapon of war.”
“Fellow laureate, Nadia Murad, is the witness who shared the abuses perpetrated against herself and others.”
“Murad is one of an estimated 3,000 Yazidi girls and women who were victims of rape and other abuses by the ISIS army. The abuses were systematic and part of a military strategy. They served as a weapon in the fight against Yazidis and other religious minorities
“Following her escape from ISIS, Peace Laureate Nadia Murad chose to speak openly about what she had suffered.”
“In 2016, at the age of 23, she was named the UN’s first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking,” the Academy added.
