Yezidi rights activist Nadia Murad, the first United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Victims of Human Trafficking, and Dr. Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist helping victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
Nobel Committee President Berit Reiss-Andersen said that "Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad have both personally risked their lives by courageously fighting war crimes and demanding justice for the victims."
Nadia Murad is the first survivor of human trafficking to be a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. In 2014, at the age of 19, Murad and thousands of other women were kidnapped from the village of Kocho in Sinjar, northern Iraq. Taken hostage, she was severely abused by EIIL fighters. She escaped after three months in captivity. According to the head of the UNODC, she reminds us that we must always listen to those most affected by the crimes we seek to stop, and that their testimonies must inform and strengthen our efforts to achieve justice. She was appointed UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Victims of Human Trafficking in 2016. At the end of September 2018 her mandate was renewed.
"The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize is truly a well-deserved honor for our UNODC Goodwill Ambassador Nadia Murad, who has been a courageous and powerful voice for survivors of human trafficking human trafficking and victims of sexual violence as a weapon of conflict." Yury Fedotov, UNODC Executive Director
Nicknamed " The Man Who Fixes Women" by the press, Dr. Denis Mukwege has already won awards in Europe, the United States and Asia for his work at the Panzi hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province. For almost two decades, he has been operating on women who have been raped, subjected to horrific sexual abuse and victims of the war in the country's north-east.
Denis Mukwege is fighting to have rape recognized as a weapon of war. Every day, the hospital receives dozens of women from the region, as well as from Rwanda and Burundi. An ardent defender of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the gynecologist has escaped assassination attempts on several occasions.
"This is well-deserved recognition for these two extraordinarily courageous, persevering and effective campaigners against the scourge of sexual violence." Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Nadia Murad and Dr Denis Mukwege will receive the Nobel Prize on December 10 in Oslo. The award consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a check for 9 million Swedish crowns (around 865,000 Euros). It is awarded on the anniversary of the death of its founder, Swedish industrialist and philanthropist Alfred Nobel (1833-1896).