Maher Sattar
The Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s third largest country that sits at the center of the continent, has had a long and complex history of conflict. Though the recent capture of Goma and Bukavu, the largest cities in eastern DRC, by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, has brought this decades-long conflict back into media attention, violence has been escalating since 2021.
Women and children have been disproportionately affected by the violence, yet Congolese women – throughout the history of conflict – have had to fight to be included in peace processes. New peace talks have now begun and the threat of a regional conflict seems for now abated. Yet, the possibility of a lasting peace, let alone one that considers the experiences and needs of women, seems for now out of reach.
Against this backdrop, and on the sidelines of CSW69, the annual meeting of the United Nations to discuss gender equality, I spoke to Nelly Mbangu and Claudine Tsongo of Sauti Ya Mama, a Congolese women’s platform that advocates for peace, as they lobbied governments and activists to support their cause. They were joined by Anne Kwakkenbos, a gender expert at Cordaid, an aid organization that works with women’s groups in the DRC.
They told me Goma is an important hub for women’s organizing in eastern Congo, and that it’s essential that women play a central role in building peace — not just in the DRC, but around the world.
The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Maher Sattar: Tell us about Sauti Ya Mama.
Mbangu: Sauti Ya Mama, or Sauti Ya Mama Mkongomani, means “voice of the Congolese woman.”. It’s a kind of consultation platform.
We are heavily involved in getting women to participate in the peace process, not just as activists but also as part of decision-making bodies. We were created in 2018, and have 56 organizations that are part of our platform now.
Tsongo: Members of Sauti are working on different issues and areas, but Sauti brings their voices together when it comes to peace. Instead of working in a silo, you can put together your voices and be stronger.
What led to its creation?
Mbangu: When women saw that their role was almost invisible, even though they are the main actors in humanitarian work.
Could you tell me what you mean by that?
Mbangu: We saw that a lot of women’s organizations were working really deeply with the communities. But at the high level, they were not included.
Tsongo: Women are there first to support their communities. They know best the needs, they can identify them quickly and also adapt quickly.
Kwakkenbos: Women’s movements are the canaries in the coal mine. They are the ones that identify real quick that things are going wrong badly, that things are going to go wrong soon.
And that’s what a lot of women’s rights organizations see. They take care of these groups, and they make sure that there’s food, and they make sure there’s health care, and they make sure that people are finding a place for shelter.
Tsongo: But also, women are the wives of those who are fighting on the front. They are also sisters. They are mothers. They play different roles. So they can also influence through lobbying.
How is this playing out in Goma today?
Mbangu: Right now a lot of eastern Congo is under martial law. This means a lot of cases of violence against women were put on hold — the courts were no longer functioning properly. Before, there was still some fear [by would-be perpetrators] when it came to rape because the courts were still working. When that fear is gone, there is an increase in violence against women.
So we lobbied everyone hard, and after two weeks, the courts started hearing these cases. That was a big win.
Tsongo: But right now, victims of rape are obliged to be silent, because it’s not easy to denounce someone without having to worry about security.
For us, it is a step back. Because we have done a lot of work to promote women’s rights.We are losing a lot in terms of achievement.
How do you lobby for peace? What are some of the tools at your disposal?
Tsongo: We are focusing on Resolution 1325.
Kwakkenbos: So Resolution 1325 [on women, peace and security] was actually decided here at the U.N. Security Council. This October, it will be 25 years old. It has four pillars: participation, protection, prevention, and relief and recovery.
U.N. Security Council resolutions are binding, so it’s a very important advocacy instrument for women in contexts of conflict. It helps us to explain to people in power that there is an international law that actually urges that we take into account the role of women, that they have a place at the peace table.
Tsongo: We are also trying to help the government draw up a national action plan.
The [U.N.] resolution is broad. To make it work in the context of the DRC and hold the government accountable, the national action plan is a tool to not just implement the resolution in the country but also to mobilize resources.
Has the current geo-political instability in Europe and elsewhere had any impact on peace-building efforts?
Kwakkenbos: For years, a lot of the peace negotiation processes were facilitated by multilateral organizations, such as the U.N., the African Union or regional institutions. We see now, over the past few years, that there’s a power shift.
The U.N. Security Council has been deadlocked for years on most important topics [such as Gaza, Ukraine, Haiti, and Sudan], and we are seeing other actors standing up to facilitate peace processes.
A recent example is Saudi Arabia, who is hosting the talks between Ukraine and the Russians, or Qatar, who hosted talks between the Trump government and the Taliban.
These are not always the actors that have women’s rights and gender equality at the forefront of their minds. It’s a big, complicated chess board where, as civil society, you try to be on the board, but you’re not always sure who’s playing the pieces.
It seems to me that when women play a role in peace processes, they tend to belong to civil society groups, and all other sectors involved in the process are dominated by men. Does that sound about right?
Kwakkenbos: Maybe 99% out of 100% times, but not necessarily.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs for Congo is a woman. Burundi and Rwanda actually have very strong female ministers and members of parliament. But again, you have to ask yourself, where lies the power, who is actually making the decisions?
Then again, we as women are not going to get that much further if we only keep on talking to each other. We need to work with men who are supportive of our cause, and we need to convince women and men who are not supportive of our cause.
What you unfortunately see with a lot of women’s movements is that they are — more often than not — led by women who had a university education or mostly live in capital cities. And that makes sense. These political spaces are not always easy spaces. [In Afghanistan] you get very different answers from a woman who lives in Uruzgan, Kandahar or Bamyan than from a woman who lives in Kabul. The former usually put topics on the agenda that are not always considered as “important”.
Can it feel that the participation of women, or their ability to have an impact, is contingent on the goodwill of the men in charge?
Kwakkenbos: Unfortunately, yes.
Do you ever feel a sense of contradiction in going to people who are responsible for violence against women and asking them for a seat at the peace table?
Tsongo: Yeah. In 2009, there was a very big person from M23 in Bukavu. A lot of women organized themselves to see him — because he’s a very powerful, intimidating person, it was not easy [to go in small numbers].
Mbangu: I remember all the women who were with me, they were like his mother. They said all your victims are someone’s brother, someone’s sister, you have to realize that.
As the women were talking, he grabbed a piece of paper and a piece of chalk and started writing. He started trying to explain why he was fighting.
He explained, and the women said: “Ok we understand your message but we want you to do it in a peaceful way, because there are a lot of people who are dying. A lot of women are dying.”
He asked the women to see the president and then to go to Kagame [President of Rwanda], because they were refusing to talk to him. So the women of north Kivu went to Kigali, and they went to Kinshasa. They talked to a lot of different actors, and got them to sit down for negotiations. But the women were not invited. They were only allowed to observe.
