Denis Mukwege

Denis Mukwege trained as a gynaecologist in France before returning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he witnessed firsthand the devastating gynaecological injuries inflicted on women during the country's brutal, decades-long conflicts, in which sexual violence has been systematically used as a weapon of war.

In 1999, Mukwege founded Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, in the eastern DR Congo, developing pioneering surgical techniques to treat severe injuries from sexual violence and building a comprehensive care model addressing survivors' medical, psychological, legal, and socioeconomic needs. Over more than two decades, Panzi Hospital has treated tens of thousands of women and girls, and Mukwege has trained generations of surgeons in the specialised techniques his hospital pioneered.

Mukwege has repeatedly spoken out publicly and before international bodies, including the United Nations, demanding accountability for perpetrators of wartime sexual violence, work that has made him a target of assassination attempts and forced him and his family to live under constant security protection. In 2018, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Yazidi activist Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.