V-Day is proud to announce the launch of the new City of Joy website! "The opening of the City of Joy is the moment where women of the Congo turn their pain to power. Where they who have suffered so deeply, so invisibly will claim their rights, their bodies and their future. It will be a huge privilege and honor to be present at this momentous occasion," stated Eve Ensler, playwright and V-Day Founder. A revolutionary new community for women survivors of gender violence in Bukavu, … [Read more...]
Women’s Participation, Rights, and Civil Society Essential
July 26, 2013 by
Women's Participation, Rights, and Civil Society Essential to Peaceful Future for Great Lakes Region and DRC The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security welcomed the UN Security Council's attention to "the full and effective participation of women in conflict resolution and peace building" in today's high-level meeting on the Great Lakes region, including the Democratic Republic of Congo. In her briefing to the Security Council, UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region Mary … [Read more...]
Women Taking Action: NGOWG MAP – May 2013
May 3, 2013 by
NGOWG MAP - May 2013: BiH, Central African Republic, Central African region, DRC, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Yemen; Counter terrorism, WPS The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security has released the May 2013 version of our Monthly Action Points (MAP) on Women, Peace and Security for the UN Security Council. For May, in which Togo has the Security Council presidency, the MAP provides recommendations on the situations in Bosnia and … [Read more...]
CONGO, National Leadership required NOW – Take Action !!!
March 29, 2013 by
ENOUGH is ENOUGH - The Time is NOW to Take Action !!! March 2013 – Conflict-related sexual violence is one of the most urgent challenges facing the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a senior United Nations official says, stressing that leadership and responsibility on the part of the Government is critical to tackling this issue. “Only the Congolese people, with the support of the international community, can change the current situation and create a new narrative for the DRC,” the … [Read more...]
CONGO – Indigenous ‘pygmies’ excluded from maternal health
March 5, 2013 by
BRAZZAVILLE, March 2013 (IRIN) - Indigenous Women in the Republic of Congo, better known as 'pygmies' - a minority group threatened with extinction - are virtually excluded from reproductive health services. They mostly give birth at home and are exposed to related health risks, according to a 2012 study conducted by the Ministry of Health with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). The study, Determinants of the Use of Reproductive Health Services by Indigenous Peoples, was … [Read more...]
World Pulse Joins V-Day !!!
January 31, 2013 by
World Pulse Joins V-Day in calling for the world to rise against gender-based violence. V-Day's Campaign, One Billion Rising began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than one billion women and girls. On 14 February 2013, V-Day's 15th Anniversary, activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities and women and men across the world will … [Read more...]
Taking Action against Lord’s Resistance Army, Invisible Children, Security Council
December 20, 2012 by
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a Christian fundamentalist, militant new religious movement cult operating in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic. It has been accused of widespread human rights violations, including murder, abduction, mutilation, child-sex slavery and forcing children to participate in hostilities. Initially it was an outgrowth and continuation of the larger armed … [Read more...]
DRC: Surge in sexual violence in North Kivu* – Take Action!
December 7, 2012 by
MINOVA, 7 December 2012 (IRIN) - Sexual violence is on the rise as armed groups continue to move across the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) North Kivu Province, officials say. Since mid-November, the provincial capital, Goma, has been a site of battle, with rebel group M23 taking control of the city on 20 November. Following negotiations with neighbouring countries, M23 relinquished control of the city on 1 December, and the Congolese national army, FARDC, is back in charge. … [Read more...]
UN Security Council condemns M23 at Goma
November 30, 2012 by
The UN Security Council, acting under the enforcement provisions of the Charter of the United Nations on Wednesday strongly condemned the M23 and all its attacks on the civilian population, MONUSCO peacekeepers and humanitarian actors. The Council also strongly condemned the M23 abuses of human rights, including summary executions, sexual and gender based violence and large scale recruitment and use of child soldiers. It further condemned the attempts by the M23 to establish an … [Read more...]
Save our Congo Sisters, ‘we call upon our global sisterhood to Take Action’
November 30, 2012 by
"We have had enough. We call upon our global sisterhood to take action. We will not be quiet until REAL Peace is upon us." ----Neema Namadamu, DRC On November 20th M23 rebels seized Goma, a major city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, reigniting a war that has ravaged the region for 16 years. World Pulse Correspondent Neema Namadamu and our community of 200 Congolese women who call themselves the Mama Shujaa ('Hero Women' in Swahili) are calling on you and women leaders at the White … [Read more...]
World Pulse, Ending Violence Against Women Campaign Update
September 20, 2012 by
The Power of Your Stories "While there is breath in this body I will speak the truth." Aoife | Ireland It has been two weeks since we announced our Ending Violence Against Women Digital Action Campaign, and we have already received over 240 community submissions from all over the world. From a witness to the horrors of acid violence in Bangladesh, to a South African man determined to redefine masculinity and address the root causes of violence, to a journalist grappling … [Read more...]
