Photographer Who Turned Tragedy into Hope Named Recipient of the 2025 Tipperary (Ireland) International Peace Award
Award recognises internationally acclaimed photographer and humanitarian whose work has transformed personal tragedy into a lifelong commitment to peace, dignity and communities rebuilding after conflict.
The Tipperary Peace Convention has today (June 30th) announced that internationally acclaimed photographer, humanitarian and peace advocate Giles Duley MBE has been named the recipient of the 2025 Tipperary International Peace Award in recognition of his extraordinary commitment to documenting the human cost of war and helping communities rebuild their lives after conflict. For more than twenty years, Giles Duley has travelled to some of the world’s most challenging conflict zones, documenting not war itself, but the resilience, courage and humanity of those living through it. His work has taken him to Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Rwanda, Lebanon, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and beyond, where his photography has become a powerful testament to the enduring strength of the human spirit.
In 2011, while working in Afghanistan, Giles was critically injured by an improvised explosive device (IED), losing both legs and his left arm. Just eighteen months later, he returned to Afghanistan—not to revisit his own tragedy, but to continue telling the stories of civilians living with the daily consequences of conflict. His determination to transform personal adversity into humanitarian action has inspired people around the world. Through the Legacy of War Foundation, which he founded, Giles has gone beyond documenting suffering to working alongside communities rebuilding their lives with dignity, opportunity and hope. Today, the Foundation supports projects in Ukraine, Rwanda and Lebanon, founded on the belief that lasting peace is achieved by enabling communities to shape their own futures.
Since its establishment in 1984, the Tipperary International Peace Award has honoured some of the world’s foremost leaders and peacebuilders, including Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Mary Robinson, Bill Clinton, Malala Yousafzai, Ban Ki-moon, Juan Manuel Santos and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Giles Duley now joins that distinguished roll of honour.
Martin Quinn, Honorary Secretary of the Tipperary Peace Convention said:
“The Tipperary International Peace Award honours individuals whose lives demonstrate that peace is built through courage, compassion and an unwavering commitment to humanity. Giles Duley embodies those values in every sense. His extraordinary journey—from internationally acclaimed photographer, to survivor of catastrophic injuries, to humanitarian leader—stands as a powerful testament to resilience and hope. Rather than allowing tragedy to define him, Giles transformed it into an even greater determination to serve others. His photography challenges us to see beyond conflict and recognise our common humanity, while his work through the Legacy of War Foundation has helped families and communities rebuild their lives with dignity, opportunity and hope.
At a time when war and division dominate headlines across the globe, Giles reminds us that peace begins with ordinary people, with compassion, solidarity and the courage to stand alongside those who suffer. These are the ideals upon which the Tipperary Peace Convention was founded more than forty years ago, and it is both an honour and a privilege to recognise Giles Duley as the recipient of the 2025 Tipperary International Peace Award.”
Responding to the announcement, Giles Duley said:
“When asked, years ago, why I returned to Afghanistan eighteen months after losing three limbs following an IED blast while working as a photographer, my answer was simple. If my work as a storyteller and activist could mean one child would not have to go through what I went through, if one person did not have to deal with the pain—both physical and psychological—that I carry with me each day, then my life would have had purpose. I was injured because of that belief—that each one of us must stand up for what we believe is right. As the years have passed, I’ve seen that storytelling is not enough. I had to become more active by setting up my own NGO, the Legacy of War Foundation, to support communities and individuals as they rebuild after conflict. Our core belief is that we cannot empower others; rather, we work to remove the barriers preventing people from empowering themselves.
From housing vulnerable families in Lebanon, to farms for genocide survivors in Rwanda, to ambulances and retraining for people living with disabilities in Ukraine, our work is about building stronger, more equitable communities. If twenty-five years of covering war has taught me one thing, it is that peace will never come solely from our leaders—it must be built from the community level up. Peace begins with people. We are living through tumultuous and painful times where many feel overwhelmed and helpless. But my faith in humanity remains undiminished. While I cannot say that a year from now things will be better, life has taught me they will certainly be different. In that certainty, I find hope. If I know things will change, then I can help shape that change for the better.
I am truly honoured and deeply humbled to receive the Tipperary International Peace Award. My work has always been to document love, not war. Even in the darkest circumstances, I see a mother feeding her baby, a father teaching his children on the floor, a grandmother brushing her granddaughter’s hair—small acts of love that unite us all. I accept this award on behalf of all those living with the realities of war, and with the knowledge that this recognition will strengthen my resolve to do even more.”
For more than forty years, the Tipperary International Peace Award has recognised those whose lives have advanced peace, justice and human dignity. In honouring Giles Duley, the Tipperary Peace Convention celebrates not only an exceptional photographer and humanitarian, but a man whose life’s work reminds us that even in humanity’s darkest moments, compassion endures, hope survives, and peace begins with people.
The 2025 Tipperary International Peace Award will be formally presented to Giles Duley at a ceremony in Tipperary in September of this year. Further details of the award presentation will be announced in due course.
About Giles Duley
Giles Duley MBE is an award-winning photographer, writer, broadcaster and Founder and CEO of the Legacy of War Foundation. After beginning his career as one of Britain’s leading music photographers, he turned his attention to documenting the long-term humanitarian consequences of conflict. Despite life-changing injuries sustained in Afghanistan in 2011, he returned to frontline documentary work and has become one of the world’s leading advocates for civilians affected by war. He served as the United Nations’ first Global Advocate for Persons with Disabilities in Conflict and Peacebuilding Situations and was appointed MBE in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to survivors of conflict. His work continues to champion the resilience and dignity of people rebuilding their lives after war.
About the Tipperary Peace Convention
Founded in 1983, the Tipperary Peace Convention promotes peace, justice, human rights and international understanding. Through the Tipperary International Peace Award, first presented in 1984, the Convention honours individuals and organisations whose work has made an outstanding contribution to peace and reconciliation throughout the world.
