13:57 | Washington D.C. (U.S.), Mar. 7.
Peruvian Prosecutor Flor de Maria Vega Zapata has been honored at the
2019 International Women of Courage Awards at the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C.
Vega was honored for sparking change in Peru's environmental enforcement efforts, defying threats aimed to derail her work, and promoting environmental stewardship to protect the Andean nation's environmental resources and communities that depend on them.
First Lady of the United States Melania Trump also delivered special remarks at the ceremony.
In its 13th year, the Secretary of State's IWOC Award recognizes women around the globe who have demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality, and women's empowerment, often at great personal risk and sacrifice.
The other 2019 awardees are Razia Sultana of (Bangladesh), Naw K'nyaw Paw (Burma), Moumina Houssein Darar (Djibouti), Mama Maggie (Egypt), Colonel Khalida Khalaf Hanna al-Twal (Jordan), Sister Orla Treacy (Ireland), Olivera Lakic (Montenegro), Marini de Livera (Sri Lanka), and Anna Aloys Henga (Tanzania).
Following the official award ceremony and meetings or interviews with government officials, NGOs, media, and others in Washington D.C., IWOC honorees will travel to individual U.S. cities on the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).
About Vega
Flor de Maria Vega is Peru's National Coordinator for Environmental Prosecutors and leads a team of prosecutors to investigate and prosecute transnational criminal organizations engaged in the multi-billion dollar criminal enterprises of
illegal mining and
illegal logging.
Illegal gold mining in Peru has fueled a criminal ecosystem that undermines the rule of law through corruption, facilitates human trafficking, destroys natural resources, and is the main cause of biodiversity loss in the Peruvian Amazon.
Some of the contamination caused by illegal mining also endangers public health, particularly women and children and indigenous peoples. Family clans control areas with minimal state presence and direct the illicit activities that then feed into transnational criminal networks.
Despite threats from transnational criminal organizations and entrenched political and economic interests seeking to discredit and derail her work, Ms. Vega brought together Peru's environmental enforcement interagency to disrupt
illegal mining activities, resulting in 500 operations against illegal miners in 2016 alone.
Her efforts to train, equip, and mentor her team of prosecutors resulted in the first convictions of illegal mining cases in 2019. Ms. Vega led her prosecutorial team in Iquitos to investigate and seize US$1.6 million in illegal timber, the largest
illegal logging shipment in Peru's history.
Her work on the illegal logging case proved to be a watershed moment in Peru's fight against this crime.
(END) DTK/RMB
Published: 3/7/2019