From Conflict to Peace: Report on Women in the Congo

In late January 2007, Muadi Mukenge traveled to her homeland, the Democratic Republic of Congo, to meet with women's NGOs that have been funded by the Global Fund for Women. The gathering brought together 50 women activists from NE Congo, the region most traumatized by a brutal 6-year war that took the lives of 4 million Congolese. Joining them for the two-day meeting were 6 women from Burundi. The dialogues addressed how women can link efforts to rebuild the region, restore communities, seek justice for the thousands of rape victims, and promote access for women and girls to education and health care. How does a nation rebuild after trauma? What are the building blocks to peace? Congolese women emphasize that the new Congo must uphold equal opportunities for women and not maintain the norms of women as second-class citizens. Elections are just the beginning of Congo’s reconstruction – the hard questions of arms proliferation and inequitable distribution of wealth must also be tackled.