Women and political leadership

Women have been virtually excluded from the national level peace process and have made few gains in terms of advancing gender equality or women’s rights. We work with our partners to inform women about the legislation and their rights, providing training to increase their capacity for gender analysis, political leadership, networking and advocacy.

National Women’s Platform for peace, security and the promotion of women’s rights

We are working to develop networks between women from the East and West in order for them to work on a common national agenda for peace, security and the promotion of women’s rights. We are now working with women from civil society, local administration, political parties and religious groups in Eastern Congo to see how we can help them organise a Women’s Caucus which could then more easily link up with the Women’s Caucus in Kinshasa and other women’s organisations based there. We also focus on building the leadership capacity of the eastern Caucus.

Alert has a well established reputation for providing both leadership training and peacebuilding training to women’s organisations in East DRC, both before and during the transition period. As the official transition period draws to a close with elections, we are building on the successful work so far by providing training for women candidates (in both the provincial and local elections) with the aim of increasing women’s representation in provincial and local level decision-making.

The training is carried out in collaboration with the Caucus des Femmes Congolaise du Sud Kivu pour la Paix, a long-term partner of ours in South Kivu. Forty-seven women, both from political parties and independents, from four Eastern provinces participated in the most recent training, just before the Provincial elections. The participants were trained in electoral issues and leadership skills.

Women’s participation in the Inter-Congolese dialogue

The 1999 Lusaka Peace Accord marked a cease-fire in the war in the DRC. The Sun City Inter-Congolese Dialogue in 2002 subsequently attempted to devise a strategy for future political transition. Some women from political parties were involved in the process but civil society was allowed only to observe the proceedings. Prior to the meeting, various women’s organisations from across DRC met with women politicians in Sun City to form a Caucus that would push for women’s involvement in the transition and post-transition process. Alert supported the participation of the civil society representative from South Kivu in the Caucus as well as her participation in the Sun City negotiations.

Alert worked with our main partners in South Kivu, Réseau des Femmes pour un Développement Associatif (RFDA) and the Réseau des Femmes pour la Défence des Droits et la Paix (RFDP) to explain the Peace Accord and the Inter-Congolese Dialogue to women in South Kivu province, so that they understood the implications for them.

RFDP published a booklet on the Inter-Congolese Dialogue that discusses the proceedings of all the meetings and discussions held by the Women’s Caucus at the peace talks in Sun City and the Action Plan devised by the Caucus in 2002. It also includes the recommendations and resolutions produced by the negotiating parties. The booklet was discussed and disseminated widely through meetings, radio broadcasts and seminars.

For more information, contact Sylvie Pareira

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Last updated: November 2006