A Congolese doctor and a Yazidi campaigner have won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for their work in fighting sexual violence in conflicts around the world.

Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad won the award for their "efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war," Nobel committee chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said in announcing the winners in Oslo.

"A more peaceful world can only be achieved if women and their fundamental rights and security are recognised and protected in war," she said.

Both Dr Mukwege and Ms Murad have come to represent the struggle against a global scourge that goes well beyond any single conflict, as the ever-expanding #MeToo movement has shown.

Dr Mukwege, 63, was recognised for two decades of work to help women recover from the violence and trauma of sexual abuse and rape in war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Women, children and even babies just a few months old, Dr Mukwege has treated tens of thousands of victims of rape at Panzi hospital, which he founded in 1999 in South Kivu.

Known as "Doctor Miracle", he is an outspoken critic of the abuse of women during war who has described rape as "a weapon of mass destruction".

Alongside Dr Mukwege, the committee honoured Ms Murad, a 25-year-old Iraqi woman from the Yazidi community who in 2014 was kidnapped by militants of the Islamic State group and endured three months as a sex slave before managing to escape.

"Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad have both put their personal security at risk by courageously combating war crimes and seeking justice for the victims," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.

"They have thereby promoted the fraternity of nations through the application of principles of international law."

With the postponement of this year's Literature Prize for the first time in 70 years over a #MeToo scandal at the Swedish Academy, today's peace award was the most highly anticipated Nobel announcement this year.

A total of 331 individuals and organisations were nominated for the prestigious peace award, almost a record number.

The award will be presented at a ceremony in Oslo on 10 December, the anniversary of the 1896 death of prize creator Alfred Nobel, a Swedish philanthropist and scientist.

Dr Mukwege said he was in surgery when he heard the news.
           
"I can see in the faces of many women how they are happy to be recognised," Dr Mukwege told the Nobel Foundation in a recorded interview posted on the foundation's Twitter account, referring to the patients at his Panzi hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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President Michael D Higgins congratulated the winners, saying Dr Mukwege has distinguished himself through his tireless work in support of rape victims.

He said that Ms Murad, who he met at Áras an Uachtaráin in 2016, deserves the highest recognition for her work highlighting the plight of the Yazidi community in Iraq.

Nobel Peace Winners since 2008

2017: International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)

2016: Juan Manuel Santos (Colombia)

2015: The National Dialogue Quartet (Tunisia)

2014: Kailash Satyarthi (India) and Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan)

2013: The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

2012: The European Union (EU)

2011: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee (Liberia), Tawakkul Karman (Yemen)

2010: Liu Xiaobo (China)

2009: Barack Obama (US)

2008: Martti Ahtisaari (Finland)