Day 4

English - Español

On board of a UN airplane, the RESDAL team headed today to Bukavu, a city in South Kivu Province, east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is in this region where most cases of violence against the villagers and local population occurs. Violence here is committed by different armed groups, such as those that have perpetrated the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and  other Congolese rebel groups. The airplane made a stop-over Kisangani, sadly famous for the sexual violence attacks that have happened there in the past years. From Kisangani, the team headed to Entebbe, in Uganda, where a MONUSCO logistic base is located. From there, equipments, food, etc are sent to UN personnel located in the East and Battalions located nearby the city.


After accommodated in the hotel, the team, already in Bukavu, at about 1000 km away from the capital Kinshasa met the regional heads of the Sexual Violence Unit and Gender Affairs office. Two dedicated professionals who have explained the role of their unit and office and described their main activities on the field. The Gender Affairs office is mainly responsible for guaranteeing that a gender approach is taken under consideration at all levels within the UN and its partners and supporting activities in this area. For the 2012 Plan of Action its representative explained to the RESDAL team that a gender approach is going to be addressed in 7 main elements: 1. Protection of civilian; 2. Support to electoral Process; 3. Development of Security Sector and strengthening efforts to fight impunity in regard to violence committed against the Congolese women and girls; 4. Participation in Disarmament, Demobilization and Repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration (DDRRR); 5. Promotion of focal points for Women issues at all levels; 6. Stabilization and consolidation of Peace; 7. Communication Strategy to support awareness in regard to gender policies. The Sexual Violence Unit, on its part, has undertaken the role of coordinating the efforts to implement the National Strategy for the Fight against Gender Based Violence. The mechanism of coordination is done at three different levels, nationally through the office in Kinshasa, regionally through the provincial units, and locally through a network of partners on the field. All the three levels focus on 5 main components: 1. Fighting impunity, led by the Ministry of Justice and UN Joint Human Rights Office; 2. Protection and Prevention; led by the Ministry of Social affairs and UN High Commissioner of Refugee; 3.Multi-Sector Assistance, led by the Ministry of Health and UNICEF; 4. Security Sector Reform, led by the Ministry of Defense and MONUSCO`s Section of Security Sector Development; and 5. Data Collection and Mapping, led by the Ministry of Gender and the UN Population Fund. The Sexual Violence Unit here in Bukavu is also responsible for the provinces of Maniema and Katanga, being very active in promoting a gender perspective within the forces. The representative explained that the military has a primary role, as they are the first on the scene and also those able to reach far and isolated locations. For that reason, she has undertaken the role of training some of the troops and military observers present in the region on how to report sexual violence incidents and how to deal with victims. In fact, both representatives have emphasized that for the protection of the population the military develops an essential role.