Nobel Peace Prize 2018 awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia MuradOct 5 (AZINS) Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist treating victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nadia Murad, a Yazidi human rights activist and survivor of sexual slavery by Islamic State in Iraq, won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it had awarded them the prize for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

"Both laureates have made a crucial contribution to focusing attention on, and combating, such war crimes," it said in its citation. Mukwege, a gynecologist treating victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, leads the Panzi Hospital in the eastern city of Bukavu.

Opened in 1999, the clinic receives thousands of women each year, many of them requiring surgery from sexual violence. Murad is an advocate for the Yazidi minority in Iraq and for refugee and women's rights in general. She was enslaved and raped by Islamic State fighters in Mosul in 2014. The prize will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which announced this year's prize, had received nominations for 216 individuals and 115 organizations. Among those put forward this year were the Syrian civilian aid group White Helmets, Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper, Edward Snowden and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Last year's winner was the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. The 2018 prize is worth 9 million Swedish kronor ($1.01 million). Past winners who came under criticism include former U.S. President Barack Obama, who won in 2009 after less than a year in office.