Every other year, the Chapel bestows the Óscar Romero Award on a distinguished, unsung human rights activist. The award commemorates the martyrdom of Óscar Arnulfo Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, who was murdered in 1980 for his efforts to expose government corruption and to fight exploitation of the poor.

On October 25th, 2009 at 3:00 p.m., the Rothko Chapel will honor Dr. Murhabazi Namegabe from the Democratic Republic of Congo with the Oscar Romero Award. Dr. Namegabe was chosen from 17 nominees selected by an international committee of human rights advocacy organizations. Featured speaker Paul Salopek, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, will share insights gleaned from years of reporting from the Democratic Republic of Congo for the Chicago Tribune.

The decades-long conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has devastated the country’s economic, social, and governmental structures. With a population of about 55 million people who represent more than 200 different ethnic groups, the country has witnessed rising inter-ethnic tensions, pervasive conflicts over natural resources, the flow of hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighboring Rwanda and Burundi, and periodic political upheaval. Armed forces operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo continue to recruit and forcibly conscript children as soldiers. Without a working justice system, human rights violators operate with impunity. Human rights activists who denounce these conditions live in a climate of extreme physical insecurity.

Through the Volunteer Office in the Service of Children and Health, Dr. Namegabe promotes the rights of children affected by armed conflict and supports grassroots organizations in monitoring, documenting, and reporting on children’s rights violations in eastern Congo. Dr. Namegabe’s risky and difficult negotiations with armed rebels to release conscripted children and to cease armed conflict have steadily and quietly improved the lives of thousands. Due to his careful documentation and advocacy, child recruitment is now a crime under Congolese military and national law.

By honoring Dr. Murhabazi Namegabe, the Chapel seeks to raise awareness about the dire situation facing women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as to highlight his successful, grassroots model.