Mukwege Foundation content partner at international conference in Luxembourg

The Mukwege Foundation is a leading partner for the international conference “Stand Speak Rise Up!” in Luxembourg – an innovative forum dedicated to survivors of sexual violence and an initiative to fight against rape as a weapon of war, and scale up best practices in victims’ support.

The conference will take place on 26 and 27 March 2019 at the European Convention Center in Luxembourg and will bring together survivors of sexual violence, key actors of the international community, as well as leaders of national and international organisations.

Three Nobel Peace Prize laureates – Denis Mukwege, Nadia Murad and Muhammad Yunus – have joined the initiative of Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and will be key note speakers during the conference.

40 members of the Global Network of Survivors and Victims to End Wartime Sexual Violence, which is supported by the Mukwege Foundation, will participate in the “Stand Speak Rise Up!” conference. They will be present and contribute as experts and speakers in all workshops.

Dr Mukwege highlighted the importance of the forum for survivors to speak out, and said the world needs to listen to them in order to find solutions and provide the best care possible.

The Grand Duchess explained the idea of the “Stand Speak Rise Up” conference is to give survivors of sexual violence a forum. They will be at all workshops and round tables, she said. “It’s by them, and for them.”

High-level speakers include

• the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramilla Patten
• the Special Representative of the British Prime Minister on Sexual Violence, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon,
• the President of the International Committee for the Red Cross, Peter Maurer
• the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda
• the former President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga

The Mukwege Foundation and the French NGO “We Are Not Weapons of War” of the international lawyer Céline Bardet are closely associated with the content of the conference.

The opening of “Stand Speak Rise Up!” will include an appeal of the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg to intensify the fight against sexual violence in fragile environments, and to engage civil society. The Appeal will be open for signatures throughout the conference and on social networks.

The conference is supported by the Luxembourg Government and is organised with the participation of the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society.