Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad awarded Nobel Peace Prize 2018

Together, they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their campaigns to end rape and sexual abuse as weapons of war. This is richly deserved recognition of these two extraordinarily fearless, persistent and effective campaigners against the scourge of sexual violence, and the use of rape as a weapon of war.

Asked whether the Me Too movement had inspired the Nobel committee’s choice, chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said: “Me Too and war crimes are not quite the same”.

At 11 am, CEST (2.30 pm, India time), the five-member Norwegian committee ended the guessing game by announcing this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which went to Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege. “Nadia Murad is the witness who tells of the abuses perpetrated against herself and others”, the committee said.

Born in Bukavu in 1955, Mr Mukwege initially studied medicine in Burundi and practised as a paediatrician in a rural hospital in Lemera near his hometown.

Mr Mukwege has also drawn unwelcome attention for his work, surviving an assassination attempt in October 2012 which saw his daughters held hostage and his guard killed.

“It’s about awarding aspiration versus accomplishment”, he told Foreign Policy, especially when an worldwide actor or institution for peace or human rights is under pressure, fighting for its life, or imprisoned.

Barham Salih, the newly appointed Iraqi president, said he spoke to Murad and offered her his congratulations.

At 25 years old, Murad is the second youngest person to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize, after Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai.

But when the Islamic State jihadist group stormed across swathes of the two countries in 2014, her fate changed forever and her nightmare began. She managed to escape after three months and chose to speak about her experiences. “At some point, there was rape and nothing else”.

One day in August that year, pick-up trucks bearing the black flag of the jihadists swept into her village, Kocho.

Ms Murad did not just lose her mother in the genocide. “She’s crying, she can’t talk”.

The committee said it wanted to highlight that women, who constitute half of most societies, need to be protected and those guilty of violating them or their rights in any way should be prosecuted.

“I am proud to be Congolese”, said the country’s top opposition leader, Felix Tshisekedi, in a Twitter post. He also wrote on Twitter, “Good done for others always ends up being rewarded”. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated her on the award.

Murad was kidnapped by ISIS terrorists when they overran Yazidi areas of Iraq.

Having jointly won the prize, Murad and Mykwege will share the nine million Swedish kronor (£777,000) prize.

Earlier this week the Nobel prize for physics was awarded to Donna Strickland, only the third woman victor of the award and the first in 55 years. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.