News
newsweek article in the october 12 2009 issue
By Christine Schuler Deschryver | NEWSWEEK
Published Oct 3, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Oct 12, 2009
Since 1998 hundreds of thousands of Congolese women and children have been raped, and more than 5 million people have died. One of the first victims of the violence was my best friend—-almost a sister—and her husband. Her body was found mutilated with more than 100 bullet holes; her husband had been shot not far away from her. The incident occurred while they were traveling back to Goma from Kigali, Rwanda. At the time, I thought it was an isolated tragedy.
City of Joy construction efforts continue
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION Expands its EFFORTS in the DRC.
Dutch government gives grant
The Dutch government recently awarded the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) a $5.2 million grant that will dramatically expand its work on combating gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Currently, ABA ROLI programming on gender-based violence in North Kivu Province is supported by a U.S. Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) grant, while the three-year Dutch grant will expand the program to Maniema Province. Both programs focus on improving access to justice for victims of sexual violence and increasing the capacity of police, prosecutors and judges to combat pervasive impunity in rape cases. ABA ROLI’s DRL-funded program has been directly responsible for a surge in rape convictions in and around the city of Goma in North Kivu, where ABA ROLI maintains an office.
For more information, please see the ABA website at http://www.abanet.org/rol/news/news_drc_aba_roli_expands_programming.shtml
Gallery Exhibition through May 7, 2009.
Intended Consequences: Rwandan Children Born of Rape
During the 1994 genocide, hundreds of thousands of Rwandan women were subjected to massive sexual violence by members of the infamous Hutu militia groups, known as the Interhamwe. Among the most isolated survivors are women who have borne children as a result of those rapes. Due to the stigma of rape and “having a child of the militia,” the women’s communities and few surviving relatives have largely shunned them. Intended Consequences: Rwandan Children Born of Rape brings together Jonathan Torgovnik’s remarkable portraits of these women and children, and their harrowing first-hand testimonies.
See the Aperture Fourdation's website here.
Aperture Gallery & Bookstore
547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor
Between 10th and 11th Avenues
New York Times OpEd Columnist Bob Herbert writes:
The Invisible War Perhaps we’ve heard so little about them because the crimes are so unspeakable, the evil so profound. For years now, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, marauding bands of soldiers and militias have been waging a war of rape and destruction against women. This sustained campaign of mind-bending atrocities, mostly in the eastern part of the country, has been one of the strategic tools in a wider war that has continued, with varying degrees of intensity, since the 1990s. Millions have been killed.
RAISE HOPE FOR THE CONGO - The Enough Project
http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org
Emmanuelle Chriqui, Robin Wright Penn, Joel Madden, Javier Bardem, Dayle Haddon, Emile Hirsch and Mia Farrow have signed up to be activists for RAISE Hope for Congo, and want you to take a stand with them. Learn what these activists are doing to help raise awareness, raise their voice, and raise the profile of the conflict and widespread sexual violence against women and girls in DR Congo.
Hollywood Takes Notice As Congo's Unrest Grinds On
from the Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-cause11-2009feb11,0,3559752.story
Much of the world seems to have written Africa's problems off as insolvable, and nowadays, if you ask a lot of Americans to name an ongoing tragedy, they'd probably point first to the U.S. economy.
Hollywood's political activists are trying to pitch in on both fronts.
Several weeks ago, the glitterati came out to discuss how to get involved in assisting U.S. food banks. Feb. 18, many of the same stars will gather at the House of Blues in West Hollywood to honor the International Medical Corps for its work in the tormented eastern regions of Congo and to draw attention to the local Children Mending Hearts group, which assists the corps.
The event's hosts are producer Grant Heslov ("Good Night, and Good Luck") and his wife, Lysa, who founded the children's group and traveled to eastern Congo last month. The stars who'll be turning out to support the two causes include Ben Affleck, Diane Keaton, Joel Madden, Felicity Huffman, Nicole Richie, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Spacey, Kate Walsh, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Vinessa Shaw, Elizabeth Berkley, Hank Azaria, Patricia Heaton, Tate Donovan, Deion Sanders, Heather Graham, Marshall Faulk, Laura San Giacomo and foreign policy advisor to the stars John Prendergast.
With Prendergast (and others) constantly prodding, Hollywood has not lost sight of just how dire the situation is for so many Africans, particularly women and children victimized by war and put at risk by the destruction it leaves in its wake.
Open Letter to President Obama to help stop violence against women
Congo Sabbath Initiative
Between January 1 and April 30, congregations from many different faith communities will proclaim “Congo Sabbath” to help raise awareness to end violence against women and girls in the DRC.... (for more follow the link to the V-Day site)
http://newsite.vday.org/drcongo/sabbath
lisa jackson writes
Congolese Women Protest Rape in Kinshasa
Thousands of Congolese women marched in Kinshasa yesterday to denounce sexual violence against women and children as a tactic of war. Marie-Ange Lukiana, the Congo's Women and Children's Affairs Minister, led the march, calling sexual violence a weapon used "to spread AIDS," according to Agence France Presse. Alan Doss, President of the UN Mission in the Congo, told the Agence France Presse that the message of the protestors was one "addressed to all men" and that "through the Security Council, the international community has adopted several resolutions (on sexual violence), but we must undertake daily action to change people’s thinking."
Media Resources: Agence France Presse 12/16/08, 12/17/08; Human Rights Watch Press Release 12/16/08.
Say No to Violence campaign
Nicole Kidman's Say No to Violence campaign collected over 4 million signatures in only a few days, thanks to all-out and last minute efforts.
new united nations ambassador
Between January 1 and April 30, congregations from many different faith communities will proclaim “Congo Sabbath” to help raise awareness to end violence against women and girls in the DRC.... (for more follow the link to the V-Day site)
http://newsite.vday.org/drcongo/sabbath
