Rumiko Seya Wins Yomiuri International Cooperation Prize for Over 20 Years of Peacebuilding Efforts in Africa, Middle East, Other Regions

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:56 JST, November 20, 2025

Rumiko Seya, president of the specified nonprofit organization Reach Alternatives (REALs), has been chosen to receive the 32nd Yomiuri International Cooperation Prize for her more than 20 years of peacebuilding efforts to prevent the recurrence of conflicts in Africa, the Middle East and other regions.

An award ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 2 in Tokyo, where Seya will also receive ¥5 million.

Her work includes preventing conflicts and nurturing women as peacemakers in Somalia, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Syria and other places.

Seya, 48, has worked on the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of soldiers in western Africa as a part of U.N. peacekeeping operations and others.