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Women, Peace and Security Initiatives: Great Lakes region
In-country | International

Feminist Leadership and Movement Building Advocacy Institute
September 22-26, 2008, Entebbe, Uganda
Application & Documentation Due July 28, 2008

The Feminist Leadership and Movement Building Advocacy Institute is a week-long workshop to strengthen feminist leadership, strategies and collective power of young African women for their voices and demands to be visible and impactful from the community to the highest levels of decision-making. The Institute will take place just after the African Feminist Forum. This process will mobilize pre-existing organizing resources of women and help young feminist leaders fulfill their potential in strengthening movements for social transformation led by young African women. The institute will also explore concrete strategies to strengthen links between movements to advance women's human rights more collectively.

For more information and for the application, please click here

Women's Rights Research Centre
July 24, 2008 (UN News Service) - Women's rights ministers from 11 countries across Africa's Great Lakes region are gathering today in Kinshasa for a United Nations-organized conference to take steps to set up a regional research and documentation centre on women's rights which would have a particular focus on the role of women in the reconstruction of countries emerging from conflict, which has plagued the region.

To read more about the centre, please click here

12th Pre Summit Consultative Meeting on Gender Mainstreaming in the African Union
June 21-23 2008, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

This 12th Pre Summit was organised by the "Gender is My Agenda" network, composed of 40 members and coordinated by Femmes Africa Solidarite. The event was offically opened by the First Lady of Egypt, H.E. Mrs Suzanne Mubarak,who strongly advocated for the empowerment of women, respect for their freedom and dignity. In the outcome document of the meeting called Solemn Statement and Recommendations, the women also undertook to take measures to protect Zimbabwean women and girls affected and displaced by violence after the March 29 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. The women in attendance agreed to send a Women Solidarity Mission to Zimbabwe to support women of that country after the Presidential Run-Off election scheduled for June 27, 2008.

To read the press release for the 12th Pre Summit meeting, please click here
To read the Solemn Statement and Recommendations, please click here

Congolese Women Appeal to the UN Security Council to Help End Sexual Violence
A Coalition of 71 Congolese NGOs, representing the women of DRC
June 17, 2008
"In the name of Congolese women, we thank you for the attention you are giving to the scourge of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations. We believe the Security Council has an essential role to play in ending the abuses that we, and our sisters elsewhere, continue to suffer."

To read the full statement, please click HERE

Congolese Women’s Campaign Against Sexual Violence in the DRC
January 2008
The Congolese Women’s Campaign Against Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is an initiative launched by women’s associations in Eastern DRC to bolster the fight against sexual violence. The Campaign is supported by the Coalition for Women's Rights in Conflict Situations.
The scope of sexual violence in the DRC is a well known reality that has been documented and reported by media, NGOs, international institutions and States. Initiatives and calls for mobilization against sexual violence have multiplied over the last four years, but have not brought any concrete results on the ground. Born of the need to bolster the fight against sexual violence, the Campaign aims to ensure that the assistance mobilized goes directly to the victims.

To sign the online petition, please click here

For more information on the campaign, please click here

Workshop: Women Gather to Promote Peace
October 12-14, 2002
Around 90 women from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, Kenya and Rwanda gathered in Butembo, in eastern DRC's war-torn North Kivu Province, to discuss and promote the role of women in conflict management. The workshop was organized by the Assocation des Femmes du Kivu (UWAKI), under the technical support of the Catholic Committee Against Hunger and for Development, the Canadian Centre for International Studies and Cooperation, PREFED (Programme Regional de Formation et d'Echange pour le Development - Kigali, Bujumbura, Bukavu, Kinshasa), International Alert UK, and Search for Common Ground (USA). The purpose of the workshop was to share experiences in order to enhance women's roles in peace and rehabilitation processes in their own social environments. Their recommendations included the organisation of campaigns to increase public awareness and respect for women, the adaptation of customs favouring women within their own communities, and better coordination among women in the region. Recommended strategies included civic and political education for all, the integration of women in decision-making processes, and the improvement of living conditions so as to preclude the elites from fleeing their countries. Participants also underlined the need to increase regional trade among local populations, and strongly warned against the recruitment of children by armies and militias. For more information contact the Association des Femmes du Kivu.

Women Building Peace and Neighborliness in the Great Lakes Region
November, 2001
The regional network ISIS-WICCE organized a two week workshop on Women Building Peace and Neighborliness in the Great Lakes Region aiming to enhance the skills for conflict resolution and networking among women's groups active in the peace movement in countries torn by war and armed conflict. 26 women from Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda participated in the workshop. For more information visit ISIS-WICCE.

HIV/AIDS Initiative
1999
Africare’s HIV/AIDS initiative focus on HIV prevention through education, voluntary counseling, information and testing, and on supporting people already infected with HIV or suffering from AIDS as well as assisting orphans. The education is centered in subjects, such as gender inequity, cross-generational and transactional sex, and stigma reduction, among others. They also seek to support and strenghten capacity building in local communities to mitigate the impact of the epidemic in the region. For more information visit Africare.

The Involvement of Women in Peace Building in the Great Lakes region Symposium
March 1998
Women’s delegations from Burundi, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo participated on the Symposium organized by Femmes Afrique Solidarite and Synergies Africa about the involvement of women in peace-building processes. After sharing common experiencies in conflict resolution and management, women developed strategies to encourage the participation of women in peace processes, and strenghthen the building of a network among women’s organizations from the three countries to support peace and reconciliation activities in the region. Pariticular attention was given to the situation of internaly displaced people in Burundi, most of whom are women. For the full report of the Symposium click here. For more information visit Femmes Afrique Solidarite.