Doctor Denis Mukwege, an inspirational Congolese obstetrician who has treated tens of thousands of women who fell victim to wartime sexual violence in eastern DRC urged the international community for endeavours toward peace, will be awarded the 13th Seoul Peace Prize.
The Seoul Peace Prize Selection Committee on 1 September 2016 decided to award the prize to Dr. Mukwege who heads the Panzi Hospital in South Kivu.
The 61-year-old obstetrician established the Panzi Hospital in his hometown of Bukavu in 1999 to treat pregnant women. However, with the civil war progressing in DRC, he eventually shifted the focus of his treatments to helping victims of sexual violence amid the rapid growth in the number of women who were survivors of rape used as a weapon of war by negative forces.
The selection committee said that roughly 48-thousand women who were victims of sexual violence received treatment at Panzi Hospital until 2015.
Established in 1990 to commemorate the 24th Olympic Games held in Seoul, the Seoul Peace Prize is awarded every two years to an individual or institution that made great contributions to the harmony of mankind and world peace. Mukwege will receive a diploma, a plaque and honorarium of US$200,000 as part of the Prize.