Who we are
About us
The Global Survivors Fund (GSF) was launched in October 2019 by Dr Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Prize laureates 2018.
Our mission is to enhance access to reparations for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence around the globe, thus responding to a gap long identified by survivors.
We act to provide interim reparative measures in situations where States or other parties are unable or unwilling to meet their responsibilities. We advocate for the legally responsible parties (duty-bearers) and the international community to develop reparation programmes. We also guide States and civil society by providing expertise and technical support for designing reparation programmes. Our survivor-centred approach is the cornerstone of our work.
Our key principles
Co-creation
Survivors, as right-holders, know best what they want and what they need when it comes to repairing the harm they suffered. This is why they have an effective influence on our decision making, and play an active role in the conceptualisation, design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of everything we do.
Contextualised solutions
As each conflict or post-conflict situation presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities, we make sure that our projects are contextualised and tailor-made in collaboration with survivors and local actors.
Multi-stakeholder collaboration
In every project, we work with a broad network of partners like survivors’ groups, civil society organisations, States, United Nations (UN) representatives, and experts. This approach encourages relevant stakeholders to further scale up their efforts in an effective and collaborative way.
Related content
Global Reparations Study
See how we assess needs worldwide.
Our team
Meet the team of experts working to fulfil our social mission.
GSF milestones
Our founders
Nadia Murad
After she survived ISIS captivity in her homeland of Sinjar, Iraq, Nadia Murad started to share her story to raise awareness on ISIS and its genocidal campaign against the Yazidi community. She has become a powerful advocate for women in conflict settings and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence worldwide through her organisation Nadia’s Initiative.
Dr Denis Mukwege
Through his experience as a gynaecologist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Dr Denis Mukwege witnessed first-hand the life-long damage caused by conflict-related sexual violence as well as the importance of reparations for survivors to rebuild their lives. He has become the world’s leading specialist in the treatment of wartime sexual violence and a global campaigner against the use of rape as a weapon of war.
Although reparation is a right under international law, survivors rarely benefit from judicial or administrative reparations. As they both received the Nobel Peace Prize for their individual efforts to end sexual violence as a weapon of war in armed conflict in December 2018, Dr Mukwege and Nadia Murad decided to join forces in founding GSF to show that reparations are feasible, accessible, and transformative for survivors.
