DRC: Congolese activist Julienne Lusenge wins 2023 UN Human Rights Prize

On 20 July, the United Nations General Assembly awarded the 2023 United Nations Human Rights Prize to six laureates, including the Congolese: Julienne Lusenge. The president of the association Solidarités des femmes pour la paix et le développement intégral (Sofepadi), a human rights activist, is a well-known figure in the DRC.

Congolese Julienne Lusenge, winner of the 2021 Aurora Prize during the 2022 Aurora Humanitarian Prize award ceremony on the island of San Lazzaro on October 15, 2022 in Venice, Italy. © Victor Boyko / Getty Images for Aurora Humanita

Text by: Paulina Zidi Follow

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Julienne Lusenge was recognized for her constant contribution to women's rights and her fight against sexual violence. "This award comforts me. With the United Nations, the whole planet recognizes my work," she told RFI, very moved.

She has already received several awards during these four decades of commitment. She is the 2021 recipient of the 2021 Aurora Prize, which honors "modern-day heroes," and the U.S. Department of State's Woman of Courage Award.

But this one, awarded by the UN, has a special flavor for Julienne Lusenge: "It encourages me more when you see the personalities who have previously received this prize.

Former laureates such as Nelson Mandela or Jimmy Carter

Previous winners include Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Dr. Denis Mukwege, Eleanor Roosevelt, Malala Yusafzai and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). "I tell myself at least that my struggle has been brought to this level," she adds. I tell myself that I can carry the voice of other women and continue to defend and speak, denounce all kinds of violations of human rights and especially the rights of women and children wherever it happens. ».

The Kipokoso health center in the #Wanierukula area, just 58 km from Kisangani, welcomes women who give birth in deplorable conditions.
Mutangi, ITA complains: "This health centre does not have a delivery bed. Women give birth on a table'pic.twitter.com/MAIyRzFxjO

— SOFEPADI (@sofepadi) July 18, 2023

Although she now lives in Kinshasa, Julienne Lusenge is originally from the east of the country, the region most affected by violence in the DRC. That's where she started her struggle, flabbergasted by what she saw herself from an early age. She experienced war, but was lucky, she says, to be able to study: "My father taught me, educated me. He gave me the ability to defend my ideas and opinions, that's what I do.

« It is justice that elevates a nation »

And it is with all her energy that Julienne Lusenge continues her advocacy: "Whenever I have the opportunity to speak, I have to speak and therefore I do not tolerate injustice and I do not tolerate discrimination. I have listened to women, I have lived with victims, I have seen people being killed and it is from all this that I draw my revolt. And when, sometimes, I am discouraged and I say to myself "I give up", then I see an injustice, it revolts me and I go back to the fight.

His fight, lately, he is also to alert the international community: "We must see the black hands that instrumentalize the armed groups in the DRC. We can't just look at the fighters who are there, we have to see which companies are behind it. Who buys our minerals? Everyone knows that it is Rwanda, but also Uganda that benefits from these unrest in the east of the DRC. They develop on our suffering. The penalty must fall for these countries and for all Western companies that use these stolen minerals.

His association, Sofepadi, advocates to denounce rape as a "weapon of war". It also provides medical support, school accompaniment, and awareness-raising for populations mainly in Ituri and North Kivu. She is also president of the Fund for Congolese Women. But Julienne Lusenge adds that the issue of sexual violence is not only about treating the woman, it affects the whole community, the whole family. And that finally to put an end to it, "we need a justice that works" and the end of impunity. "It is justice that elevates a nation and peace is nourished by justice," concludes Julienne Lusenge.

The 2023 Prize award ceremony will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in December 2023, as part of Human Rights Day commemoration activities.

United Nations Human Rights #Prix:
"The dedication of the laureates is a testament to the universal nature of human rights at a critical juncture."
-@UN_PGA@LusengeJ @sofepadi @viasna96 @ACHRS_Jordanhttps://t.co/oLTKEt3nvA

— UN News (@ONUinfo) July 21, 2023

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