SOAS alumna receives highest honour from President Macron for work in human rights

SOAS PhD graduate Dr Alice Mogwe was appointed to the prestigious Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur by President Emmanuel Macron and the French government in August. 

Membership of the Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur is the highest distinction that can be awarded by the French government to its citizens, in recognition of both military and civil service to the nation.  

Nominated by the Ambassador to the Republic of Botswana, Olivier Brochenin, Dr Mogwe has been appointed to the Order with the rank of Chevalier, or Knight, for her ‘longstanding commitment in favour of human rights, both in her homeland Botswana… and in the international field’.  

We can make a positive difference by foregrounding dignity in the daily lives of people.

Dr Mogwe is the founder and director of DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights - and has twice been elected to lead the Fédération International pour les Droits Humaines (FIDH). It is for this work; on enforcing political freedoms, protecting the rights of vulnerable and marginalised groups and abolishing the death penalty, that Dr Mogwe has been recognised. 

In 2021, she won the highly prestigious international Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Human Rights Award for her work and achievements through DITSHWANELO. Dr Mogwe recently completed her PhD at SOAS, supported by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation through the Governance for Development in Africa Initiative. 

''This recognition, by President Emmanual Macron and the Government of France, of the human rights work conducted by civil society in this increasingly polarized and polarising world, carries great significance.  

“It serves, not only to show appreciation for us, but also as a reminder that it is through sustained and consistent effort, in both local and shared global spaces, that we can make a positive difference by foregrounding dignity in the daily lives of people.'' – Dr Alice Mogwe 

Dr Mogwe’s research at SOAS, for which she received her PhD in September of this year, focused on Botswana civil society and its place in international civil society. At the announcement of her award, PhD supervisor Professor Stephen Chan OBE, an expert on International politics of Southern Africa, commented:   

“Dr Mogwe has been active in both Botswana and international human rights work for many years. She has pioneered openness about sexual identities in Botswana. There are few parallels to what she has done throughout Africa. She fully deserves the Chevalier award, and especially in the order of the Legion of Honour - the most sought-after decoration in all France.”