The horrors are so terrible that they sound made up but—somehow—they aren't.
A woman raped in front of her husband. In front of her parents-in-law. Forced to watch her child killed and then raped. Forced to have sex with her son in front of militants. Raped when nine months' pregnant.
Imagine an orphanage where over 300 children born out of rape have been abandoned because of the shame and stigma associated with sexual violence. Imagine a town where, in the last year, 11 infants between the ages of six months and one year, and 59 small children from one to three years old, have been raped.
In the context of the review of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by CEDAW (the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women), we wanted to raise awareness about the need for effective implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325), the ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and the linkage between the flow of arms and militarization and sexual violence.
In the WILPF's recommendation which the CEDAW Committee picked up in their General Recommendation on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), WILPF highlighted the importance of strengthening women's participation in peace negotiations, regulating the arms trade, and effectively implementing the DRC 1325 National Action Plan (NAP).
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.
BRUSSELS, Kingdom of Belgium, July 23, 2013 – African Press Organization (APO) – The European Union has just endorsed an initiative worth 25 million euros to combat violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Despite more than a decade of joint efforts from the international community and the Congolese Government, such violence remains commonplace.
South Sudan became the world's newest country on 9 July 2011 after decades of civil war and conflict. Women played a strong role in the popular referendum that resulted in the nation's independence from Sudan. Yet, the consequences of war – which disproportionately affected South Sudan's women, leaving many of them illiterate, impoverished and widowed – linger now, even though peace has come.
On 4th June 2013, the Permanent Mission of Ireland organized and hosted a High Level Panel discussion on Women and Peacebuilding in the Great Lakes region, with the participation of Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Mary Robinson; Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zainab Bangura; Development Minister of Ireland Joe Costello and women's civil society leader and Ugandan lawyer
