There is growing recognition that conflict-related sexual violence is not random or opportunistic. It is a strategy used by armed groups fighting in conflicts worldwide.  Civilians — and particularly women and girls — are being targeted with sexual violence, used as a weapon of war, for a range of reasons: to persecute and destroy an ethnic group, as a ‘reward’ for combatants, or for financial gain.

Panzi Foundation DRC was created in 2008 to support Panzi hospital and provide other care for survivors, such as legal assistance, psycho-social support and socioeconomic programmes. Panzi Foundation USA – based in Washington – financially supports Panzi in DRC.

The Mukwege Foundation was established in 2015 to transfer the Panzi Holistic Care model outside DRC. The Mukwege Foundation supports victims and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence globally. We are a separate organisation, based in The Hague, the Netherlands.

SEMA, The Global Network of Victims and Survivors to End Wartime Sexual Violence, represents survivors of conflict-related sexual violence from over 26 countries. The SEMA network draws global attention to the continued use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, and calls for the changes needed to end the violence and achieve justice. SEMA members join key international and national discussions on women, peace and security. You can visit www.semanetwork.org for more information.

There are many ways to extend your support for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict. You can:

• Stand with survivors. We regularly share survivors’ stories and activism through our newsletters and social media accounts.
• Help survivors to rebuild their lives by making a donation.
• Organise a fundraising event i.e. birthday fundraising, charity marathon, office fundraising, etc
• Spread the word. Follow us and share our posts on social media: Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram 

We are a small organisation and do not have the capacity to support research requests. Please browse through the information and resources that we provide via this website and our social media to learn more about the work we are doing.

We prefer to bring new colleagues/interns onto our team when there is a clear project for them to work on. We advise you to check our LinkedIn page and website vacancies page for any  vacancies which may be of interest to you.

Volunteering opportunities are occasionally available for specific projects. Please visit our  LinkedIn page or check our vacancies page on this website to find out if there are any current calls for volunteers.

For information about working at Panzi, please check their website and contact them directly: https://panzifoundation.org/

As a registered non-profit in the Netherlands, the Mukwege Foundation receives funding from foundations and governments, as well as individual donors. You can see more about the organisations which fund us through our annual reports and financial statements. You will also see our current donors listed at the foot of our website pages.

The best and simplest way to donate is via our Donation Page. You can choose to make a one-time donation or monthly (recurring) donations. Please be aware of your choices when donating. You can also choose whether your donation supports the work of the Mukwege Foundation or that of Panzi Hospital and Foundation DRC via a drop-down menu.

When you donate to us, there is the option to select either the Mukwege Foundation’s international work, or to support Panzi Hospital in DRC.  We transfer 100% of donations made to Panzi DRC directly to them. If you choose  to support the Mukwege Foundation, then your donation is directly supporting our work with survivors worldwide.

Thank you for your interest in supporting our work. Please let us know if you plan to organise a fundraiser, and follow these guidelines so that your friends, family and community know what their donations will support.

You can transfer the donations that you’ve collected via bank transfer or through our Donation Page. We wish you the best of luck with developing your creative fundraising ideas and we are grateful for your support.

Dr Mukwege’s vision of holistic, survivor-centred care, developed at Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is our inspiration. Dr Mukwege acts as our Special Advisor, sharing his expertise and vision of a holistic, compassionate and survivor-centred response to sexual violence in conflict. While he serves as the special advisor to our Supervisory Council, he has no decision-making nor governance authority in the Mukwege Foundation.

Marieke van Schaik is the Chair of our Supervisory Council. She is joined by Wilco van Wijck as the Treasurer, and 3 members – Julie Verhaar, Heba El-Kholy, and Unni Karunakara. You can read the reports of our Supervisory Council in our Financial Statements each year.

Any interview requests regarding the work of the Mukwege Foundation can be sent to info@mukwegefoundation.org. We will forward them to the cabinet of Dr. Mukwege for their review.

We are a small organisation with limited capacity to enter into new fundraising and project partnerships. We partner with other organisations working specifically on conflict-related sexual violence or sexual and gender-based violence, as well as human rights and humanitarian organisations.

Thank you for thinking of the Mukwege Foundation for your support. While we are not able to respond to requests for co-branding with any products or services, we are grateful for donations received from companies through their social responsibility initiatives. The best and simplest way to transfer funds to us is via our Donation Page. You can also transfer the donations that you’ve collected via bank transfer to the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation, IBAN: NL06 ABNA 0402 6314 47. Please email us on info@mukwegefoundation.org if you make a bank transfer so that we can send you a receipt and thank you.