Has her heart with women affected by violence in Congo – receives medal

Ellinor Ädelroth was five years old when she decided to become a doctor when she grew up. Apparently, she found no reason to change course as she received her medical degree at Umeå University 20 years later. After several years, she became a specialist in pulmonary medicine before starting a doctorate in the subject, later becoming an associate professor and then a professor. She has been a dean at the University and has served on many committees.

As a visiting scientist at McMaster University in Canada, she collaborated with renowned asthma researchers, resulting in a series of publications in such journals as the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet.

Obviously, this is all very important work. But now that she is being awarded the Medal of Merit at Umeå University, her humanitarian work and impact on women and girls subjected to violence in Eastern Congo has taken centre stage. This work has also left a very big mark on her own life.

Offered her expertise in Congo

It was during a group trip with the Pentecostal Church in Umeå to war-torn Bukavu in Eastern Congo that Ädelroth came into contact with Université Evengelique en Afrique, where she offered to teach medical students. Every summer from 2008 until her retirement in 2012, she travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to teach. She held the courses free of charge, with the plan to do the teaching in her free time. But Umeå University felt that she could do it as part of her job.

It was an expression of enormous goodwill from Umeå University.

“The University and faculty have been very supportive. The then dean, Bengt Järvholm, said that I did not need to take a leave of absence and instead could do it as part of my position, that it was part of our internationalisation efforts. So when I went in the summer, I did not have to take time off in the form of holiday time. This was amazing; it was an expression of enormous goodwill from Umeå University.”

When she retired from Umeå University in 2012, she expanded her work in the DRC. She began to stay for longer periods to work full-time with both teaching and health care. Eventually, she became acting hospital director at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu in Eastern Congo and for a period head of the department for women impacted by violence.

According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the conflict in the DRC is one of the most protracted and violent in the world. According to the latest figures, over 5.6 million people have been forced to flee within the country, of which more than 4 million are in Eastern Congo – areas characterised by widespread violence and insecurity. Sexual violence against women and girls is a powerful weapon in the conflict.

“This is genocide, meaning they are trying to destroy the reproductive capacity of women and girls. That is their goal; they don’t think females are worth anything. The youngest rape victim I’ve seen was 18 months old. And even younger children have been raped.”

Working closely with Nobel Peace Prize laureates 

His work with victims and highlighting sexualised violence as a weapon in war and conflict led to Panzi Hospital’s chief surgeon and gynaecologist, Denis Mukwege, being awarded the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. Ädelroth was standing by his side when he received the phone call about the award.

Eight years earlier, Mukwege had been appointed an honorary doctor at Umeå University, largely thanks to Ädelroth, who worked closely with him during her years in the DRC. 

Even today, at the age of 77, Ädelroth travels to the DRC regularly for work, albeit more administratively these days.

What are your duties in the DRC?

“Well, to be a nice old lady,” she says with a laugh. “It has varied a bit. Last year I reviewed a study by middle-tier doctors about how they see the future; very interesting and insightful. I wrote a report on this study. I am helping Mukwege to improve the standard of patient care and documentation, with the aim of becoming a Centre of Excellence. For several years, I have reviewed patient records and provided feedback on what they need to improve. I’ve gone through the pharmacy, and during the pandemic I was there nagging staff to get vaccinated,” she says as an example of her work in recent years.

“At the same time, I follow what is happening in this special department where I began as head, which treats women and girls impacted by violence. I meet those little girls almost every day and chat with them and maybe give them a piece of candy. Like a kind old lady.” 

Travels as long as she can manage

In an interview in 2020, Ädelroth described how difficult life in the DRC can be, with all the violence, corruption and lack of security and amenities. Then, she said that she did not think she would be able to continue returning for so many more years. Though she took a break in 2022 and 2023, after that she began travelling again.

Are there any plans now to stop travelling to the DRC?

“No, I’ll go as long as I can, if I can.”

Today she wants nothing more than to be in the DRC.

“I could have gone in March this year, but the instability is so bad right now in the Congo. In February, Bukavu was invaded by the M23 rebel movement. In recent weeks, things have been worse in Bukavu than it has been in many, many years.”

I have to go down as soon as I can get there.

Since violence escalated in Eastern Congo in October 2024, more than 1.2 million people have been forced to flee within the country, according to UNHCR, which describes the current situation in the DRC as one of the most severe, but often overlooked, humanitarian disasters in the world.

“I have to go down as soon as I can get there. I have a, what I call, my daughter there, a girl that I have supported, who is now a nurse at the hospital. She was one of the most severely injured I had seen in all the years I have been there. She has no family and she has chosen me as her mother. I have to go there and see how she is doing.

"And also to see all my other friends. When I talk to them, they ask when I will return. But at the same time, they say that I can’t come now; it’s so unsafe and that I could be kidnapped and blackmailed. But I would like to be there and support them.”

She has regular contact with her friends in the DRC, and sometimes even with Mukwege, who at the moment cannot even be in the country due to the threats against him.

Reads everything she can find about the Congo

Until she can travel, she tries to find meaningful ways to fill her daily life

“Last year I knitted a few hundred pairs of socks. I give them to my sister in Örebro who has contacts with the City Mission. I now have a whole bag of socks that I’m going to take to the City Mission.”

This is part of the racial discrimination that we see today. Africa is not interesting.

But before she starts knitting, she spends entire mornings trying to find information about the DRC.

“I read everything I can find, search the entire internet,” she says, explaining that after local media and all major Swedish newspapers, she goes through The Guardian, NY Times, Africa News and the UN’s radio broadcasts from Monusco.

Unfortunately, she is often disappointed by the poor reporting about the DRC in the media.

Why do you think that is?

“It’s Africa. No one is interested in Africa. How much is written about Sudan? Where millions of people have died. This is part of the racial discrimination that we see today. Africa is not interesting. It is being overshadowed by everything happening in Ukraine and the Middle East. But the war in Eastern Congo has been going on for 30 years.”

Receives medal of merit

The Annual Celebration will take place on 18 October. At the ceremony, Ellinor Ädelroth will receive Umeå University’s Medal of Merit for her scientific and humanitarian work.

“I don’t know what they think I’ve done that is so amazing that I should get a medal of merit. I feel very unworthy. But I am of course happy and honoured, incredibly honoured.”

But Umeå University is not alone in believing that Ellinor Ädelroth has made significant contributions. In 2020, she received H.M. the King’s Medal of the 8th size suspended by the Order of the Seraphim ribbon. This medal was also partly in honour of her humanitarian efforts.

Which medal is most important to you?

“Although it is a huge honour to have received a royal medal in the Order of the Seraphim and everything, this one feels closer to my heart, because my colleagues and others who know me selected me for this honour.”