About Denis Mukwege
Denis Mukwege (; born 1 March 1955) is a Congolese humanitarian, gynecologist and Pentecostal pastor. He founded and works in Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, where he specializes in the treatment of women who have been raped. In 2018, Mukwege and Iraqi Yazidi human rights activist Nadia Murad were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict". Mukwege has treated thousands of women who were victims of rape as a weapon of war since the Second Congo War, some of them more than once, performing up to ten operations a day during his 17-hour working days. According to The Globe and Mail, Mukwege is "likely the world's leading expert on repairing injuries of rape". In 2013, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "his courageous work healing women survivors of war-time sexual violence and speaking up about its root causes." Mukwege's continued demand for justice for the victims of the Congo conflicts has resulted in him receiving threats against his life and the Panzi hospital. He has received these death threats on social media platforms, which emerged from various sources including Mukwege's country of origin, the DRC, and neighboring Rwanda and Uganda. Reportedly, the threats have emerged following Mukwege's increasing calls for perpetrators who were named in a decade-old UN report, to be brought before an international tribunal. A previous assassination attempt was made on Mukwege's life in 2012, which resulted in him and his family leaving the country over concerns for their safety. On 2 October 2023, Mukwege announced his candidacy for president in the 2023 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election. He ultimately came in sixth place in the official results, receiving 39,639 votes. Mukwege fled to Bukavu where he founded the Panzi Hospital in 1999. Mukwege founded the City of Joy with Eve Ensler and Christine Schuler Deshryver as a place to support the women who were victims of sexual assault as a weapon of war and treated at the Panzi Hospital.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.