Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Denis Mukwege And Nadia Murad Launch The Global Survivors Fund
November 22, 2019, Nadia Murad
Read Forbes article here.
At the end of October 2019, Nobel Peace Prize laureates Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad launched a new initiative to assist the victims and survivors of sexual violence in conflict. The Global Survivors Fund is a mechanism that will provide survivors of conflict-related sexual violence with reparations and other forms of redress, especially where the perpetrators or states are unable or unwilling to do so.
This is not the first endeavor of Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad at addressing the issue of violence against women and girls. Both have been working tirelessly to address the issue of sexual violence in conflict for many years. Dr. Mukwege, a Congolese physician, has spent large parts of his medical career helping victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Together with his team at the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Dr. Mukwege has treated thousands of survivors of sexual violence. Nadia Murad, who is herself a survivor of sexual violence used as a weapon of war by Daesh, became an advocate for the Yazidi community. She has worked tirelessly to highlight the issue of religious persecution and sexual violence used as a weapon of war since she managed to escape from Daesh’s enslavement. Nadia Murad is a powerful witness and an example of how a survivor of such atrocities can be empowered through advocacy. Silence could not achieve the same result.
The Global Survivors Fund pledges to put the voices of survivors at the centre of its activities and identifies four main goals for its activities:
“1.Transform the lives of thousands of victims of sexual violence through reparations and other forms of redress.
2.Build an evidence base that demonstrates the positive impacts of reparations and other forms of redress for victims of sexual violence, their families and communities.
3.Transform the international policy agenda to prioritize reparations and encourage national governments and the international community, collectively, to accept a responsibility to act.
4.Using innovation, collaboration and a survivor centric approach to program development shift the way in which programs are designed to include survivors in all aspects from inception to implementation.”
The fund will be fueled, not only by donations from governments, but also from the private sector. It aims to attract between $50m and $100m by 2022. The European Union has pledged a €2m contribution to the fund. Reportedly, French President Emmanuel Macron has already committed €6m towards the fund and the U.K., Japan, South Korea and Norway are looking into ways to support the initiative.
This initiative is very welcome and worthy of international support. Indeed, its success will be dictated by the level of international support it gains. Its ability to deliver on its promises depends on this support.
The Global Survivors Fund has received endorsement from the U.N. Secretary-General in his statement to the Security Council on conflict-related sexual violence in April 2019. Language referencing the Global Survivors Fund was also included in the U.N. Security Council Resolution 2467. Indeed, Resolution 2467 stresses the need to take a survivor-centered approach to addressing sexual violence in conflict. This includes the provision of reparations for survivors and livelihood support that would enable them to rebuild their lives in the wake of the sexual abuse they have suffered. The Global Survivors Fund may help to provide the survivors with a second chance in life. The atrocities that the survivors suffered do not define and should not dictate their lives. While the survivors will need to find the strength to fight for their future, the Global Survivors Fund can provide support for their needs and so help with the transition.