Assassination Attempt on Dr. Denis Mukwege, Prominent Congolese Doctor and Activist

On the evening of 25 October 2012 around 19:00, four armed men, not in uniform, entered Dr. Denis Mukwege’s house in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The armed men forced Dr. Mukwege’s two daughters and their friend at gunpoint to sit silently on the floor until he returned home. On his arrival, roughly half an hour later, one of the armed men opened the gate and forced Dr. Mukwege out of the vehicle and demanded he hand over his keys. The security guard on duty ran out shouting to intervene and was shot and killed. The armed men fired the remaining bullets at Dr. Mukwege, who threw himself on the ground narrowly avoiding the gunfire. The men then fled in Dr. Mukwege’s vehicle, which they quickly abandoned before hijacking another vehicle.  The identity of the armed men and their current location is unknown. 

Dr. Denis Mukwege is the founder and medical director of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, DRC. The hospital has become known worldwide for the treatment of survivors of sexual violence and women in need of specialised gynaecological care. Dr. Mukwege has been the recipient of numerous international awards including the UN Human Rights Prize, African of the Year, the Olof Palme Prize and the Clinton Global Citizen Award. He has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize. These awards recognize his extraordinary service, humanity and commitment.

Survey of women's political participation in Shabunda

As part of the promotion of Congolese women, AFEM SK has just completed a research on the political participation of women in Shabunda territory. This survey was conducted in Shabunda center Nkulu Bagabo and Bangoma.
The Association of Media Women in South Kivu aims to develop an effective approach that will touch the real causes of critical positioning of women in democratic institutions and in other areas of community life.

According to the coordinator Chouchou Namegabe, AFEM is proposed to achieve a participatory diagnosis in the community by organizing a survey of different social strata as all sectors of community life are marked by an imbalance of gender relations.
For her, this investigation has led to the social actors at the heart of their development by making a thorough analysis of the problem through individual interviews and focus group by then. Four categories of actors are targeted, including those of political leaders and civil society, women and men at the base.

Bukavu: 12 hours for 900 Congolese Francs

There are many porters in the city of Bukavu. Them are women displaced by war came from different areas of South Kivu, most of which come from Bunyakiri and Walikale.

"Instead of becoming beggars, we preferred to the porters, even if this work does not bring much" said one of them met along the way. It was carrying a can of 20liters of oil back and her baby over the bottle.

"That what we get for Congolese 900Francs (under 1 American dollar) sentence may be for a family to survive? "Exclaimed the woman.

According to most of the women interviewed at the border Ruzizi first, they are often forced to reassure the boss that they are able to transport the package to its destination, even if it weighs is more. Because their families have to live and survive, these women are called to work for which they have been accustomed since childhood because the majority was a farmer.

26 people trained in BARAKA, Kamituga and Kalehe on approach "Gender in the families"

As part of the campaign gender in our families, the Association of Media Women in South Kivu AFEM SK in his project "Advocacy and awareness for the fight against gender-based violence has training 26 people from three areas of South Kivu. 

These trainings were conducted at FIZI / BARAKA, Kamituga / Mwenga and Kalehe. 

For AFEM SK the new approach based on the integration of men alongside women in their different formations that address gender-based violence in families.These courses focused on gender and gender-based violence and human rights.

AFEM SK gives three offices to the listening core clubs

Rural women members of listening core clubs of AFEM SK will carry out their activities without much difficulty. 

This is the essentially of the message they sent to the leadership of the Association of Media Women in South Kivu. AFEM SK in partnership with DIAKONIA gave 3 offices to provide Listening Core Club in BARAKA / FIZI, Kamituga / Mwenga and Kalehe. These offices will enable NCE ensure their awareness, advocacy and recording broadcasts. According to the Coordination of AFEM SK, these offices are given in their project accompanying Listening Core club to the Women's Media Association of South Kivu.

Kalonge: hunger overwhelms the displaced

Approximately four thousand households were displaced Kalonge in Kalehe, following the upsurge in armed conflicts since January 2012. They came from Shabunda, Kalehe and Kabare.

These families are living in difficult conditions. Some are under-housed by host families and others spend the nights in small houses from straw, or in tents, tarpaulins, given by a humanitarian NGO, International Rescue Committee IRC. They are many, men, women and children, suffering from hunger, cold, and homeless.
They reach out to just anybody to find any answer.

Also, nature seems hell-bent against this population: hail rains fell in March, April and May, destroying the plants. A mosaic tackled the cassava plant, abundant food resource in the medium; which led to a general lack of productivity. Thus, neither the host families, or families displaced seem to know what to do.

Bukavu DRCongo: Female carriers ply trade as human pack horses, a vestige of war years

Cesarine Maninga carrying a load of charcoal,

which she sells at a local market in

Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Years of war — when men were off at

battle, killed or returned to find no work

— gave eastern Congo its legions of female

bearers. ‘‘I don’t have a choice,’’

Ms. Maninga said, bitter resignation in

her voice. ‘‘I have to feed my family.’’

It’s around 6 in the morning and the sun is slowly rising, a clear sign that Cesarine Maninga must leave. In one practiced movement, she straps a 50-kilogram sack of charcoal to her back, tosses the rough rope around her head and trudges off toward Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Ms. Maninga, 43, is just one of hundreds of women who ply this trade each day, lugging loads of up to 100 kilograms, or 220 pounds. On this morning, she hopes to sell makala — dry charcoal used for heating and cooking. She will walk almost 10 kilometers, or about six miles, with the heavy load, a trek she makes at least twice a week. ‘‘I don’t have a choice,’’ she said, bitter

resignation in her voice. ‘‘I have to feed my family’’ — 11 children, and an unemployed husband. Women like Ms. Maninga are a common sight on the streets of Bukavu, striking not for their looks but for the outsize burdens they carry. In French, they are les femmes transporteuses; in Kiswahili, they are called babeba mizigo. Whatever the language, the job is the same: Female carriers are human pack horses. Several international surveys haverated Democratic Republic of Congo as the world’s worst place to be a woman. Often, these studies focus on gender violence. According to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health last year, 48 Congolese women are raped every hour. For years, various militia and rebel groups have used rape as a weapon to destroy communities. Across eastern Congo during these years of war, women have acquired an added burden, that of bearing heavy loads. Horses, donkeys and trucks are too expensive, residents say. The roads, if any, are so bad that the few miles between Ms. Maninga’s mountain shack and Bukavu are nearly impassable, except on foot.