Philippe Ruvunangiza, director of Fund grantee BEST, is this year’s recipient of the prestigious Civil Courage Prize. Learn more about Philippe and his work with mining-affected communities in the DRC.
The Fund for Global Human Rights is pleased to share that Fund grantee Philippe Ruvunangiza has been awarded the 2024 Civil Courage Prize by the Train Foundation.
The Civil Courage Prize “honors the extraordinary few among us who resolutely pursue freedom for many despite the consequences to themselves.” Previous recipients include Alexei Navalny (2022), the group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently (2016), and former Fund grantee Pierre Claver Mbonimpa (2017).
As director of Fund grantee BEST (Office of Scientific and Technical Studies), Philippe protects and promotes the rights of miners and mining-affected communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Together with his colleagues, he advocates for climate justice and works to hold corporate, state, and local actors to account for human rights abuses in the DRC.
The eastern DRC is part of the so-called Central African Copperbelt, one of the most mineral-rich regions in the world. Nearly three-quarters of the global supply of cobalt—a critical component in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries—comes from just two Congolese provinces.
But decades of conflict, corrupt governance, and colonial exploitation by foreign countries and companies have devastated local communities and harmed the environment. Men, women, and children working in the artisanal mining sector toil for hours under inhumane conditions for less than $2 a day. Injuries and deaths are common in the poorly regulated and dangerous industry.
[READ: Ending Exploitation in the DRC’s Deadly Cobalt Mines]
Philippe and his colleagues work closely with miners and mining-affected communities to secure safer working conditions, fair compensation, and countrywide standards for corporate-social responsibility. BEST also documents the environmental degradation caused by mineral extraction, advocating to protect the region’s biodiversity.
For his bravery, Philippe has faced countless hardships and great personal risk.
“It’s a tough battle. We are fighting against all kinds of unscrupulous people who threaten the whole of civil society and of course my own organization! I have personally been the victim of intimidation, threats from armed men, and physically attacked,” says Philippe.
“I share this courage with the many people and institutions that have supported me for many years. I am thinking especially of my family, my co-workers, and all the human rights defenders in the world.”
The Fund is honored to support the remarkable work of Philippe and his colleagues at BEST, and we heartily congratulate Philippe on this well-deserved recognition of his indomitable, inspiring spirit.
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