--- description: Find out why Julienne Lusenge is one of the 100 most influential people of 2024. title: Julienne Lusenge: The 100 Most Influential People of 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a12b213cf8df6e9/698a5595b21a9c2813509dda/time-100-2024-julienne-lusenge.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 17, 2024 # Julienne Lusenge by Volker Türk  VENICE, ITALY - OCTOBER 08: Julienne Lusenge (D.R. Congo), 2021 Aurora Humanitarian at the Aurora Dialogues Conversation with Humanitarians, Hosted By Dele Olojede on October 08, 2021 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Victor Boyko/Getty Images for Aurora Humanitarian Initiative) VENICE, ITALY - OCTOBER 08: Julienne Lusenge (D.R. Congo), 2021 Aurora Humanitarian at the Aurora Dialogues Conversation with Humanitarians, Hosted By Dele Olojede on October 08, 2021 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Victor Boyko/Getty Images for Aurora Humanitarian Initiative)Victor Boyko—Aurora Humanitarian Initiative/Getty Images Societies are only as strong and resilient as their [women](https://time.com/collection/women-of-the-year/ "undefined") and girls. The work of Julienne Lusenge embodies this truth. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country torn apart by decades of conflict, women and girls live with a daily reality of violence, extreme hardship, and the denial of fundamental rights. Outraged by these injustices, Julienne, a human-rights defender, co-founded SOFEPADI, which works to prevent sexual and gender-based violence, to support and empower survivors, and to help them rebuild their lives. She is also on the board of the U.N. Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, which each year helps thousands of people regain their dignity. In 2023, the U.N. recognized Julienne’s far-reaching impact with the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights. Julienne’s work to strengthen women’s participation in political processes has been—and continues to be—key for peace building in Congo. As she herself said, “Women are the first victims of war, but only they hold the unique key to peace.” _Türk is the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964219/julienne-lusenge/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964219/julienne-lusenge/"},"headline":"Julienne Lusenge","datePublished":"2024-04-17T11:08:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:29:30.619Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964219/julienne-lusenge/","keywords":["TIME100","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades","2024TIME100","T100ICONS2024"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a12b213cf8df6e9/698a5595b21a9c2813509dda/time-100-2024-julienne-lusenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a12b213cf8df6e9/698a5595b21a9c2813509dda/time-100-2024-julienne-lusenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6964219/julienne-lusenge/","name":"Julienne Lusenge"}}]}] ```