Physician Denis Mukwege and human rights activist Nadia Murad have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the awarding committee announced Friday morning.
Mukwege and Murad won the award for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, said committee chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen, speaking at a ceremony at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo.
The pair were among 330 nominees to become 2018’s Nobel Peace Laureate, including 216 individuals and 115. It was the second-highest number of candidates ever, after the year 2016.
The Peace Prize is given every year to the person who has done most to advance the cause of world peace. Last year’s winner was the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
The oddsmakers favourites for this year’s prize had been South and North Korean leaders Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un, with the public betting that their negotiations over nuclear disarmament would impress the committee.
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