“The noise of conflict often drowns out the voices of the vulnerable. Today’s conversation focuses on the plight of women and girls who are disproportionately affected by violence and oppression, specifically in the DRC. By delving deep into this topic, using a regional lens, today’s discussion will shed light on an issue that reflects on humanity globally and therefore demands our collective attention and action,” stated Armine Afeyan, Executive Director of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, during her opening remarks at the Aurora Dialogues Online discussion held on July 16, 2024. She also pointed out that two of Aurora Laureates hail from the DRC, and they are “doing incredible work there to strengthen their communities against immense odds.”

The event was titled “Breaking the Silence: The Humanitarian Crisis and Sexual Violence in the DRC” and featured Julienne Lusenge, 2021 Aurora Prize Laureate, Co-Founder and President of Women’s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development (SOFEPADI), and Co-Founder of The Fund for Congolese Women (FFC); Nelson Castro, Director of Global Network & Regional Engagement at Vital Voices; Pauline Kahuubire, Communications Officer at The Women’s Situation Room Uganda; Bruno Lemarquis, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); and Sandrine Lusamba, Executive Coordinator of Women’s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development (SOFEPADI). The conversation was moderated by Nozipho Tshabalala, CEO of The Conversation Strategists.

Julienne Lusenge, 2021 Aurora Prize Laureate, Co-Founder and President of Women’s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development (SOFEPADI), and Co-Founder of The Fund for Congolese Women (FFC), addressed the audience with a touching plea to raise awareness of the situation in the DRC to protect the innocent suffering as a result of atrocities. “I beg you to bring the voice of Congolese women and Congolese people throughout the world, to share the message that enough is enough. We cannot continue to be killed because of our mineral resources. It’s due to these resources, due to our forests, that we are being killed. <…> I ask you to please spread all this information that you will receive to show that we cannot forget part of human beings on Earth who are killed as innocents,” said Ms. Lusenge. After that, the audience had a chance to watch a short film dedicated to the work of 2024 Aurora Prize Laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege.

The numbers cited by Bruno Lemarquis, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), depicted both the devastating reality in DRC and an alarming trend for its further deterioration. “Sexual gender-based violence has reached a dramatic level, with almost 123,000 GBV cases reported last year, mainly [by] displaced women and young people. <…> Many cases remain underreported. Incidents of sexual violence against children have steeply increased this year, a 30% increase compared to last year. Based on current trends, we expect that 2024 will become another record year because of all the additional displacement of population. So, the world cannot just keep watching this,” noted Mr. Lemarquis.

Local activists struggle to counteract the dire consequences of prolonged conflict as they do not have the resources to do it alone, explained Sandrine Lusamba, Executive Coordinator of Women’s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development (SOFEPADI), whose organization focuses on protecting women. “We work with prevention actions in which we inform the population on what is gender-based violences and how we can call it out; what are the services that can help them with this that are available for women and girls, and even for boys as well. We give them direct help when it comes to food, clothing, access to water, access to sanitation. But all of that is very difficult of course, and we’re not doing enough,” lamented Ms. Lusamba.

Pauline Kahuubire, Communications Officer at The Women’s Situation Room Uganda, then talked about the acute demand for new solutions and approaches, since the old ones were so obviously failing to address the crisis efficiently. “The crisis in DRC demands our attention, like colleagues have alluded, but also, there is a need for groundbreaking and feminist approaches to resolve this conflict. We’ve seen that the ongoing processes are influenced or informed by traditional models of conflict resolution and peacebuilding, which have previously excluded women. You cannot exclude half of the countries’ population and expect the peace process to be successful,” pointed out Ms. Kahuubire.

When it comes to gender-based violence in patriarchal societies, both the burden of tradition and the exacerbating circumstances of the crisis are often responsible for making the survivors keep their silence, and we must develop and implement comprehensive mechanisms to empower and help them speak up, insisted Nelson Castro, Director of Global Network & Regional Engagement at Vital Voices. “Perpetrators know this in a crisis setting. They commit these crimes strategically, believing that they can act with impunity, that they will not be held accountable. We have to also make sure that this is part of the conversation. They count on survivors not reporting. <…> We have to ensure that we are talking about the stigmas, that we are breaking down those stigmas, and that we can encourage survivors to report,” stated Mr. Castro.

Concluding the discussion, moderator Nozipho Tshabalala, CEO of The Conversation Strategists, thanked the panelists and reminded the audience to keep their #EyesOnDRC. “This is how we amplify the conversation. This is how we lift some of the insights and some of the sound bites that have come out of this conversation, and we share them with the world. And this is how we play our part in breaking the silence, in bringing visibility and in acknowledging the fact that the women and the girls of DRC just cannot wait,” said Ms. Tshabalala.