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Source App: [Great Lakes - Central Africa bulletin - n. 24 - Inbox - Netscape Folder]

Subject:

Great Lakes - Central Africa bulletin - n. 24

Date:

Mon, 12 Apr 1999 13:14:33 +0100

From:

"serv. informazioni Congosol" <congosol@skyol.it> To:
gruppi 1 2 <congosol@skyol.it>

Testimony
of
African Women's
Rare Stamina, Strength and
Resilient Resourcefulness

"We Want Peace!"

Our femininity is the measure of life's hope.
Confronted by the atrocities that kill life and the inhumane structures that rule today's world,
we are capable of birthing a society founded on
justice, truth, peace and fraternity...

Women of Kinshasa, D.R.Congo

Cheryl Carolus, South Africa

1. Women of D.R. Congo
2. Women of Bukavu, South Kivu
3. Women of Kinshasa
4. Women of Burundi
5. Women - Dying to Live
6. Women of Africa

1. Women of the Democratic Republic of Congo

We will not stop crying out
as long as life continues to die unjustly on African soil. Our demands:
We say NO to war, YES to negotiations;
We say NO to the culture of violence, YES to non-violent self-defense; We say NO to hatred and contempt, YES to love of our country; We say NO to the marginalization of our country, YES to honest, transparent partnership.
Our Challenge:

1. We remind the leaders of our country and all our brothers of the armed opposition: We do not want liberation by arms that kill us. We want you to have the courage to follow the way of palabre as our ancestors have always done. We want a just peace and not peace at any cost.
2. To the governments of Rwanda and Uganda we say: At the beginning of the third millennium other peoples prepare and unite for progress. But you, what interest makes you perpetuate an ideology of war on African soil?
   
3. We ask the governments of African countries: Where are those heroes who built the Americas, those people who resisted slavery? Where are the women and men who gave their life to end colonialism and apartheid? Do you really ignore why Africa is dying? Are you incapable of finding true solutions capable of rebuilding our continent before all the world?
4. We say to Western governments: At the moment the 50th anniversary of the Proclamation of Universal Human Rights is being celebrated, our African peoples have but one right, the right to die. Is that not a crime of genocide? We and our children have the right to peace and to life. Change your politic that has made our continent a theatre of death. Stop making and sending us arms that disable and kill us. Invent other arms that would be capable of promoting life. 5. We appeal to women throughout the entire world. Our femininity is the measure of life's hope. Confronted by the atrocities that kill life and the inhumane structures that rule today's world, we are capable of birthing a society founded on values: justice, truth, peace and fraternity.

6. To the people of the Congo and to all devastated peoples of Africa: It is up to us to take in hand the construction of our countries and our continent. Let us have confidence in ourselves and in God who has called us to be creators. Be strong against fear and naivetÈ. Whatever the sacrifice demanded, let us be committed to building a people who are free, united, responsible and credible in the eyes of the world. Kinshasa, December 10, 1998

2. Women of Bukavu, South Kivu

• On the morning of March 8 the Congolese Democratic Coalition (RCD), the occupying rebel army, banned the celebration of the "International Women's Day" throughout South Kivu. Posters placed in public places and showing certain demands were torn down. - "The anger and incomprehension of all those preparing the celebration was equaled only by the absurdity and ridicule of such a decision... Such actions prove that the rebel movement has no intention of promoting democracy." The women strongly protested the order canceling the day decreed by the United Nations in recognition of the rights of women throughout the world to speak out about conditions affecting their lives.
• Armed military were stationed along all the main streets of Bukavu and ordered to use "non-violent methods" to repress any attempt to celebrate the International Day of Women.

• We hail this initiative that allows women of the entire world to reflect on and speak out on conditions affecting their lives. - Fifty years ago the nations of the world made the commitment to respect human life and to work for the development of peoples and harmony among nations.
• In the late fifties and early sixties most African nations achieved national sovereignty. For us, what has been achieved during these 40 years of independence?
• While others countries are developing, most countries in Africa have become battlefields for the ideological interests of some and the economic interests of others.
• The women of South Kivu are indignant to see the intensification of widespread misery and poverty to which they have been reduced for several decades because of bad government and/or armed conflict.
  
• It is not necessary to remind you of the price of war on the people in general and women in particular - women who are not consulted in the planning or execution of war.
• With the flagrant failure of government the woman has become the pillar of the family economy; the economic circuit is paralyzed; war erodes her scant savings to the point that she is unable to send her children to school, nor feed them, and even to less give them proper health care.
• During the conflicts that tear apart the Great Lakes region and particularly our country, we have lost and continue to lose those we love. I ask you to observe a moment of silence in memory of all the victims of these armed conflicts.
• Our families have become the object of arbitrary threats under divers pretexts, entire villages are burned and thousands of helpless people are displaced. Calamities of famine, homelessness, epidemics threaten our near future.
• We cannot be silent before the violence done to women and young girls: rape, forced prostitution of young girls...
• As we celebrate this day, the women of South Kivu join with all men, women and children, victims of violence in armed conflicts throughout the world - and particularly in Africa that has become a cradle of crimes against humanity: Angola, Congo-Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo ... and there are others.
• We reprove the international community for its indifference to a situation of no peace and its consequent multiple social problems in DR Congo. We take this occasion to invite the United Nations, the European Union and the Organization of African Unity to make a sincere commitment to look for a lasting solution to the conflicts that are tearing Africa apart, and particularly the Great Lakes region. - And finally we invite all the sons and daughters of our country to come together at a round table in order to bring peace to D.R.Congo, peace that is indispensable to any effort of development and woman's integral development.

• We, the women of South Kivu of D.R.Congo are indignant to declare that the International Day of Women was not celebrated in our region as it was by other women of the world.
• This silent and peaceful march was planned as an occasion for the women of South Kivu to present their demands: the rights of women during armed conflict.
• March 8 is an international day established by the United Nations and is non-political. It is the occasion to recognize the right of women throughout the world to speak out on the conditions affecting their lives.
• We deeply regret that the RCD (Congolese Democratic Coalition) that considers itself a democratic movement promotes actions that contradict democratic principles. The planned demonstration was in no way subversive. On the contrary the women intended to denounce violations of human rights in general and violations of women's rights during armed conflict in particular. It is the women who bear the brunt of such violations.
• The attitude of RCD toward women as shown on this occasion constitutes an unequivocal denial of their supposed resolve to establish democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo. - National and International communities and all persons of good will are witness to the action of RCD that contradicts the principles of the Beijing Women's Conference. Bukavu, March 8, 1999

  
  

3. Women of Kinshasa

1. Human Rights Now African Association for the Defense of Human Rights ( ASADHO) - In January -February a campaign was initiated by Human Rights Now to raise consciousness of responsibility for actions that sustain a climate of violence in the capital. The campaign - "Life and Peace for All in Kinshasa" - centered on finding solutions that would permit all persons to live in peace in their different milieux: home, family, school, neighborhood, work, market place, church.
   

• Violence had first been triggered in the city in response to foreign aggression last August. At that time AimÈe Tshilemba of ASADHO strongly denounced individual revindication and is considered a key figure responsible for halting public executions. In the present campaign she spoke of the sacredness of all life, that every person living in Kinshasa must respect and protect the life of their neighbor. "Often, sometimes even daily, certain actions can contribute to sustained violence... Justice can only be rendered by law not by an individual."
• "Perhaps we will learn to love one another as God our Creator tells us in the Bible."

2. International Women's Day

• Women of Kinshasa celebrated International Women's Day with participation of groups that included the Programme d'Appui aux Actions FÈminines - PAAF - (Program for the Support of Women's Actions) and the leadership of several women known for their commitment to the promotion of women. They joined with women throughout the world in discussing the theme: "Struggle against violence done to women."
• Claudine Tayaye Bibi Muyala of the Diocesan Movement of Catholic Mothers and activist for the promotion of women spoke on behalf of all women: "The Congolese woman is victim of violence within her home, in society, in the workplace, in forced marriages and in situations such as rape, sexual abuse. This is reinforced by the negative image of woman propagated by the media. As an intellectual, the woman is marginalized ... Women must also become aware of (different forms of) violence they may give rise to, even unintentionally."
• The State has the responsibility to implement international conventions and to recognize the professional, civic, and socio-economic rights of women. The government must acknowledge the vast accomplishments of women in the so -called "informal" sector. Laws for the protection of women against all forms of violence including adultery must be instituted.
• Other sessions have been organized by the PAAF throughout the country. The agenda includes Women and the Culture of Peace, Women and Good Government, Women and the Struggle Against Poverty.

  
  

4. Women of Burundi

• The women of Burundi called for the acceleration of the peace process that began in June under Julius Nyerere, former president of Tanzania.
• Christine Ruhaza, former Minister of Human Rights and Promotion of Women, represented the committee Women and the Peace Process. She reminded those present of the cease-fire agreement signed on June 21, 1998 that has not been respected.
• "We women are very concerned by the present progress of negotiations, particularly the question of ending violence... What more will it take to put an end to violence? ... Women are always the first victims of violence."
• "Are we to believe that the men concerned (in the peace process) are irresponsible?"
• Delegates of religious communities and Burundi Civil Society took part in the seminar as four international commissions began peace talks with 18 Burundi delegations. Despite the facts that talks ended on March 16 with little progress reported, non-governmental organizations from Italy and France are opening feeding centers; MÈdecins Sans FrontiËres and the Luxembourg cooperation are funding medical supplies for public health centers.

  
  

5. Women - Dying to Live

• "Dying to Live" - A film released in Nairobi, Kenya, on International Women's Day reveals ... "African women's rare stamina, strength and resilient resourcefulness through their everyday experience." Produced by a group called Women Communicators Network, the film tells the story of ordinary women who devised ingenious methods to survive and even thrive despite harsh circumstances of war, drought, poverty, even misery. "It would be easy to feel shattered by the atrocities of the war especially as almost all the men in the area are now dead." Economic self-sufficiency is but one focus. There are others. A woman tortured and maimed during apartheid in South Africa uses that experience to counsel women victims of domestic violence. Another now in the South African government challenges the subjugation of women by men as she had the subjugation of blacks by whites. - "African women have a moral obligation to make sure that younger women never have to face the same barriers that women of past generations did." (Cheryl Carolus, South Africa High Commissioner to London)

  
  

6. Africa: Women's Anti-War Coalition

• A workshop on Women in the Aftermath of Civil War was held in December 1998 in Dakar, Senegal. Excerpts from the final report follow:
• Over and over again, women speak of violence in their experiences of war, of how war entrenches violence in their communities, of how violence is experienced differently by women and men. Societies become militarized in civil war and the militarization lingers afterwards. The military sow a culture of violence in long wars that is hard to eradicate. This violence makes life difficult and dangerous for women, especially with the diffusion of cheap small arms. And violence against women does not stop when treaties are signed to end the war; in fact violence escalates. What can we do to protect ourselves during conflict and in the aftermath? How can we prevent violence? How can we help women to heal from the trauma?

  
  

• This Workshop was conceived as a follow-up to work undertaken with Clotilde Twagiramariya of Rwanda on the book, What Women Do in Wartime: Gender and Conflict in Africa. The participants were invited to share their experiences and provide information on what happens to women in the aftermath of civil war, which is even less well known than women's experiences in wartime. What are women's specific needs in the wake of war? When so many women are displaced persons or refugees, which institutions and what kinds of organizations can respond to their needs? These questions are particularly acute after civil wars in which health and education services and service personnel are often military targets. In the current economic climate, which emphasizes private sector solutions and self-reliance, women have limited expectations that governments can or will provide the services they need. Workshop Objectives:
  

1. Motivated by a belief that women's common experiences of suffering offer the best hope of reconciliation, the first objective is to bring together women on all sides of civil conflicts to initiate a dialogue on healing.
2. In the belief that we can learn by comparing international experiences, the second objective is to develop a multi-disciplinary understanding of healing and transformation, and to develop as many different ideas as possible to address the diverse problems of aftermath experiences.
3. Similarly, we believe that we have much to learn from the many disciplines and professions that we represent to develop theories that will enable full healing and empowerment among survivors in grass-roots organizations.
4. A fourth objective is to develop strategies to influence the process of democratic representation of women's interests in achieving durable peace.
5. Finally, mindful of how war changes relations between women and men, between women and their families, and between women and their communities, we seek ways to further the social transformation of those relations in the context of the state and society.

• 7. We need to be proactive during peacetime and to sensitize and educate women and children.

  
  

We, the participants of the West African Workshop on Women in the Aftermath of Civil War held in Dakar, Senegal from 11-13 December, 1998,
Recalling:

• The objectives and principles of the United Nations Charter; - The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the central concern of which is human beings and the defense of their human rights, as well as the African Charter on Nation's Rights and Human Rights; - The constitutive acts of UNESCO and the World Health Organization; - The recommendations of the World Conference on Human Rights (held at Vienna, June 1993), of the World Summit on Sustainable Social Development (Copenhagen, March, 1994), of the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, September, 1994), of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, September, 1995); - The International Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW);
• The resolution on the cultures of violence and peace adopted by the 28th session of the UNESCO general conference held in November 1995, and the resolutions adopted during the 49th and 50th sessions of the World Health Assembly in 1996 and 1997 which recognized violence as a public health issue; Noting:
  
• The rapid spread of conflicts throughout Africa which have severe consequences for populations in general and for women and children in particular;
• the increase in violence, particularly against women and children, and the specific nature of the violence against women;
• the inadequate and insufficient commitment and political will on the part of governments and international agencies to defend and protect women's human rights during conflicts and in the aftermath; - the lack of appropriate government-supported mechanisms to address the consequences of violence against women and ongoing violence in the aftermath;
• the persistent gender inequalities in African societies which continue to deny women access to resources and to redress of wrongs; Considering:
• the responsibility of the state to protect all citizens, especially the most vulnerable, in this case women and children; - that an understanding of violence against women and action to end this violence should begin with local and regional initiatives; - that reconciliation and the alleviation of poverty are not enough to facilitate healing in the aftermath;
• that there is a need to be proactive during peacetime to sensitize and educate women, children and the general population including the armed forces to the consequences of warfare;

• that they make a firm commitment to end conflicts worldwide and particularly in Africa;
• that they take full responsibility for the facilitation of holistic reconstruction (social, psychological, physical and economic) of society, taking particular note of women's needs for special reparations;
• that they recognize and enforce national, regional and international laws and treaties pertaining to the protection of women and children;

• that they acknowledge the roles they play in creating or supporting political conflict for their own interests;
• that they compensate victims, particularly women and children; - that they work towards the prevention of conflict in the future.

1. Establish this network of African women opposed to war, which we have named the African Women's Anti-War Coalition;
2. Support the Declaration of Algiers adopted at the International Colloquium on All Forms of Contemporary Violence and the Culture of Peace on 22 September 1997 and all other such declarations and initiatives;
3. Use the African Women's Anti-War Coalition to:

1. Put pressure on states, through solidarity with other national and international agencies, to end present conflicts and to prevent future conflicts;
2. Lobby for support for women in the country that is in conflict; c) Assist with training and sensitization programs for human rights, healing and education;

4. Popularize rights and the gendered nature of problems that women face during and after conflict;
5. Receive and disseminate information regionally and internationally.

• At the end of the Workshop, the group unanimously adopted the Declaration that creates the African Women's Anti-War Coalition/Coalition de Femmes Africaines Contre la Guerre.

Maureen Healy
P.O.Box 29185 - Washington. D.C. 20017
tel/fax: 301-927-5084
email: healym@sprynet

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