“Rape as a Weapon of War:Consequences for Civilians in the

Congo Peace Process”

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is located in Central Africa;

It is the second largest country by area in Africa; and the eleventh largest in the world

Approximately 80 million in habitants 11 Provinces

Background of the DRC

Described by some as Africa’s first World War There have been a number of complex reasons

for the war:Conflicts over basic resources such as water Access and control over rich minerals Genocide in Rwanda in April 1994

War in DRC

Since the conflict began in 1994, more than 8 million people have died

It has been the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II

Some 45,000 continue to die each month and women and children are the main victims of the war

More then 2Million internal displaced

A few things to think about…

The Boston Globe, quoted 1,152 women are raped every day, 13% are under 14 years of age, 3% die as a result of rape and 10-12% get HIV;

According to UNHRC 2 millions Internal Displaced

Since 2006, 350,000 rape cases had been reported; many are unreported

The Guardian reports that 48 women are raped every hour.

The Kivu region has been tagged as “the worst place for a woman to live in, on earth”

According to the Enough Project, rape as a weapon of war in Congo

The UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, declared the DRC as “the rape capital of the world”,

Consequences of war

Although 19% of the population are children, they account for 47% of deaths

UNAIDS estimated there were 400,000-500,000 people living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2007;

770,000 children have been orphaned as a result of HIV; 2.7 million of the dead have been children 2 in 5 children will die before their fifth birthday 67 % of children at the primary school-age are currently out-of-school; 50% of children aged between 6-11 years old are out of school.

(UNICEF) Human Rights activist s and Journalist killed targeted

Consequences of war

In Eastern Congo, almost 30,000 children are associated with armed groups and hundreds are still being recruited every day;

An estimated 7,000 children soldiers are still in the government army forces and militias groups( including foreign armed groups).

Consequences of war

Does this subject merit our true attention? Will we remain indifferent until the numbers hit 200 rapes

every minute? Where precisely is the cut off point for compassion and a

sense justice? How many women must be raped before we start to care

enough to look at the causes? How high do the numbers have to be?

So ask yourselves… Canada

Access to justice is a key issue raised by the victims With most of the victims saying they were not in a position to seek justice through the legal system because they could not identify or locate their perpetrators, because perpetrators are protected by the government

Health care and education among the highest priorities Psychological and Social reparation: Victims often

suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, , and Suicide.

Peace and Security :armed conflict continues to be a major concern

Housing : most of victims, they lost their house, and rejected by their local community

Victims need Justice and reparation

Canada has been maintaining its longstanding support of DRC efforts to establish sustainable peace, particularly in the country’s eastern region

As a co-chair country, Canada is friend and member of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region

has an important bilateral bilateral development assistance program with the DRC and contributes as well to numerous multilateral initiatives in the areas of peace, good governance, poverty reduction and humanitarian assistance

Why Canada is needed in the DRC

To respond to the urgent humanitarian crises and reinforce Canada commitment to work for peace and security in eastern DRC, in collaboration with the DRC government and local NGOs partners,

Canada should provide concrete action steps to help address the challenges of lack of security, weak governance, and lack of infrastructure in eastern DRC.

Canada should develop tangible projects in these challenges indicative of the range of needs that must be addressed early in DRC:

Recommendations to Canada in DRC

infrastructure recovery, including water, sanitation, shelter and transportation;

food security and agricultural rehabilitation, including land tenure designation and registration;

urgent health, education and basic social welfare requirements, including employment and income generation; and

more importantly, demobilization and reintegration, which takes priority in the peace process because security must be enhanced; the rule of law promoted; development stimulated; refugees repatriated.

Recommendations to Canada in DRC

CYI seeks to advance the status of women/children in DRC, promote human rights, sustainable development in the DRC;

Support women and children victims of sexual violence and former children soldiers in DRC

Carry the best answers to the challenges that face women and children in DRC

What do we do…

CONGO YETU INITIATIVE “CYI”

30 Cleary Avenue, Room 10Ottawa, Ontario K2A 4A1

Canada

Telephone: 613-421-0461

Email: icongoyetu@yahoo.fr

www.congoyetu.org

THANK YOU!!!

OUR CONTACT