Every year, UN SDG Action Awards spotlight the Heroes of Tomorrow changemakers transforming hope into action for a more sustainable and just world.
Among them is Julienne Lusenge, UN SDG Action Awards Changemaker winner and fearless human rights defender from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). For decades, she has stood at the frontline of protecting women, exposing violence, and rebuilding fractured communities, turning adversity into transformation and solidarity into strength.
In a country where 7.8 million people are displaced, nearly 50% of women in relationships experience intimate partner violence, and in 2023 a woman was raped every four minutes, her work defies impunity and restores resilience.
Justice Meets Peacebuilding
Julienne Lusenge began her journey as a journalist in eastern DRC, documenting the atrocities of war and amplifying the voices of women whose suffering was ignored.
“I became engaged the day I realized that silence kills twice — first at the moment of violence, and again when society demands the victim’s silence.”
Driven by this conviction, Julienne co-founded Solidarité Féminine pour la Paix et le Développement Intégral (SOFEPADI), which provides holistic medical, psychological, legal, and economic support to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. Through its Karibuni wa Mama hospital and mobile clinics, SOFEPADI has supported over 7,500 survivors—helping women not only heal but reclaim their dignity and leadership in their communities.
Recognizing the need to sustain grassroots leadership, Julienne founded the Fund for Congolese Women (FFC) in 2007—the first feminist national fund in the DRC. Since its creation, the FFC has raised over $3 million, awarded over 700 grants, and supported over 255 women-led organizations active in 16 provinces. These organizations prevent violence, provide clean water, strengthen economic independence, and train women peacebuilders, creating lasting resilience from within the communities themselves.
Impact That Breaks Impunity
Julienne’s work directly challenges cultures of silence and impunity. Her advocacy has brought perpetrators before the International Criminal Court, shaped frameworks like the Nairobi Declaration, and influenced both national and international reforms.
Courage That Inspires
Her leadership has earned her the UN SDG Action Awards Changemaker Award, UN Human Rights Prize, the Aurora Prize, recognition among TIME’s 100 Most Influential People and many other distinctions received at the local, national, and international levels. Yet her greatest legacy is the networks of Congolese women she mentors—leaders reshaping their communities and redefining resilience.
Lead. Empower. Transform.
Julienne Lusenge calls on governments, donors, and changemakers to invest in grassroots women-led solutions as the foundation of sustainable peace. Every survivor supported, every girl educated, every community empowered is a step toward breaking cycles of violence and building a more just world.
From documenting crimes to creating futures of dignity, Julienne Lusenge is showing that resilience is not only about survival—it’s about transforming pain into peace.
— Sandrine Lusamba, National Coordinator, SOFEPADI, on behalf of Julienne Lusenge at the Heroes of Tomorrow: UN SDG Action Awards Ceremony
