Congolese nun receives 2013 Nansen Refugee Award

(Vatican Radio) A nun from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was announced by The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Tuesday as the recipient of the 2013 Nansen Refugee Award.
Sister Angélique Namaika, was chosen for her work in the remote north east region of the country with survivors of displacement and abuse by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
She runs the Centre for Reintegration and Development, which has helped more than 2,000 women and girls who have been forced from their homes and abused..
Many of those who have come for help to the centre have been victims of abduction, forced labour, beatings, murder, rape and other human rights abuses.
Speaking to Lydia O’Kane, through a translator, Sr Angélique says she was surprise to receive the award. “I was not expecting that, what I was doing every day was help women, helping displaced vulnerable women”.
She adds that she knew that the Lord was helping her to help these women and it was he that gave her the courage to start this initiative.
Nansen Refugee Award was established in 1954, to recognize extraordinary humanitarian work on behalf of refugees, internally displaced or stateless people.
Sister Angélique Namaika will receive the Award and the Nansen Medal at a ceremony in Geneva on September 30. Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s interview with Sr Angelique