The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Congolese gynecologist and surgeon Denis Mukwege and Iraqi anti-rape activist and leader of the campaign to free the Yazidi people Nadia Murad for their work to end rape as a tool of warfare.
Doctor Mukwege, 63, has treated about 30,000 victims of rape throughout his decades-long career, BBC reports. He founded the Panzi Hospital in the city of Bukavu 20 years ago, reports CNN. Mukwege has developed groundbreaking treatments to help women who have sustained injuries caused by acts of sexual violence during war.
He was named African of the Year in 2009.
Mukwege is an outspoken critic of the DRC’s current administration. Following the announcement, the government released a statement congratulating the doctor despite past “disagreements.”
The physician Denis Mukwege, 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. pic.twitter.com/9CrNWfj7zu
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2018
SOURCE: OkayAfrica