Network Activities

The network activities are aimed at defining the problem areas in each country to be dealt with by the project and drawing up a strategy for the advocacy activities. It is also intended to assist the establishment of international connections between the three countries Afghanistan, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the European Union and Germany.Project participants take part in two national network meetings per year and two international workshops. In all three countries the project coordinator works together with existing networks of participating women. The project is intended to strengthen these networks that have been dealing with the issues of the participation of women in the peace and security sector and (sexualised) gender-based violence for years.Within the network meetings the participants – consisting of women from the medica mondiale/PAIF offices and women from the network – will discuss on how to realise women’s rights and the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 and 1820 in their countries. Furthermore, they will plan their participation in several advocacy activities and will choose the topics which will be discussed in meetings with politicians and political institutions. The first international network meeting took place in Kosovo in July 2009. In June 2011, the participants from Afghanistan, Liberia and DR Congo will meet again to exchange views and experiences, this time in Cologne.

Read about the initial meeting in Kosovo in July 2009.

Liberia: Empowering women to engage in peace

medica mondiale Liberia supports "Peace-building from the ground up" by literacy classes and networking.

Foto: © Sabine Fründt

Women, the elections and peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Times are particularly harsh once again in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In this country elections do not constitute a moment of hope for democracy and change but rather signify a moment of terror and impunity, often leading to disastrous consequences – and this especially for women. Human Rights Watch reported 24 dead and about 100 seriously wounded civilians in the DRC in the two weeks that followed the elections which were held at the end of November 2011. Immaculée Birhaheka, a women’s rights activist and director of a Congolese women’s non-governmental organisation called PAIF (Promotion et Appui aux Initiatives Féminines), reported that most of those victims were women. Women are often the main targets when violence breaks out, due to the legal, economic and physical power inequalities between men and women – inequalities which are common in most countries of the world. Violence against women is one social mechanism and expression of this patriarchal system built on male supremacy and female subordination. PAIF has been one of medica mondiale’s partner organisations in the DRC since 2004. It was active supporting women’s political participation in the presidential and legislative elections which were held on November 28, 2011.