South Sudan: National Geographic profiles ICRC’s assistance to people with disabilities in series on Nobel Peace Prize winners

South Sudan: National Geographic profiles ICRC’s assistance to people with disabilities in series on Nobel Peace Prize winners

Geneva (ICRC)—The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is one of the five Nobel Peace Prize recipients being celebrated in a documentary series launched today by National Geographic Films, The Nobel Prize, and Academy Award-winning director Orlando von Einsiedel (“The White Helmets”).
News release 21 May 2020 South Sudan

The film featuring the ICRC, "Still Human," takes viewers to South Sudan and follows the work of Makur Diet, who lost his leg to a bullet and today helps others walk again.

"It was an incredible experience to film with Makur at the Red Cross rehabilitation centre in South Sudan," said Von Einsiedel. "In a country badly affected by conflict, it was heart-warming and inspiring to see the life-changing difference Makur and the team around him are making to the lives of thousands of people who are brought to their centre."

Makur works at a rehabilitation centre in Rumbek in central South Sudan that cares for hundreds of people each year with physical disabilities resulting from gunshot wounds, polio, and other causes.

It is one of three centres that the ICRC runs in South Sudan. Today the organization is the largest provider of physical rehabilitation services in the country, with nearly 3,400 people supported with mobility devices and physical therapy in 2019 alone.

"Still Human" is available for viewing below.

 

"Makur and the ICRC team featured in this moving film embody the compassion and commitment to victims of armed conflict and violence for which the ICRC was awarded three Nobel Peace Prizes," said Peter Maurer, President of the ICRC. "We are incredibly proud to have their work profiled as part of this series at a time when we all need to be reminded that hope can be found, even in the bleakest of moments." 

The ICRC is the only three-time recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which it was awarded in 1917, 1944 and 1963. The ICRC has helped more than 800,000 people around the world with physical disabilities to walk again. 

"After watching this movie, I feel very happy," said Makur. "I feel like I am a human being. I hope other people with disabilities watch the movie and see that they too can do anything." 

The other films in the series are "Lost and Found"; "The Lost Forest"; "Into the Fire"; and "An Unfinished Symphony." The films will be released May 20-22 at YouTube.com/NationalGeographic. 

For more information, contact:

Crystal Wells, East Africa spokesperson, +254 716 897 265, cwells@icrc.org

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