WHERE VICTIMS

TRANSFORM


INTO SURVIVORS

December 15, 2024 — The failure of the tripartite summit in the Luanda process illustrates the political and diplomatic impasse in which this process finds itself, despite the good will of Angola’s President Lourenço.

This impasse in the Luanda and Nairobi processes brings to the forefront the imperative need to reinvigorate the Addis Ababa Framework Agreement for Peace, Security and Cooperation, signed in 2013.

This agreement was the first to “address the root causes of the conflict and end the recurring cycles of violence” in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the African Great Lakes region, with various states and institutions as co-sponsors, including the European Union, Belgium, the United States of America, France and the United Kingdom, and support from the United Nations, the African Union and the World Bank in particular, as part of the consolidation of a strategy for peace and development.

This peace agreement, which represents the latest serious initiative to put an end to the deadliest conflict since World War 2, aims to neutralize and demobilize armed groups, both national and foreign, and to reaffirm the basic principles of international law, with various commitments on the part of the DRC, neighboring states and the international community.

The promises made in the Framework Agreement are far from being fulfilled to date, and given the failure of current political and diplomatic initiatives, it seems crucial to us to put them back on the international agenda in order to de-escalate regional tensions, silence the guns in Eastern Congo and relaunch a peace dynamic in the region.

As Pope Francis emphasized during his last visit to Kinshasa, DRC: “We cannot accept the blood that has been flowing in this country, for decades now in the DRC, causing millions of deaths without the knowledge of many.” Indeed, it is high time to lift the Congolese tragedy out of indifference and neglect. To achieve this, the Framework Agreement needs to be revitalized as a matter of urgency, with the mobilization of “co-sponsoring” countries and institutions.

Stability in the heart of Africa is essential not only for international peace and security, but also for the global economy and the energy transition. International diplomacy and economic and private-sector players must therefore mobilize all the levers at their disposal to help put an end to the recidivist aggression of the countries behind the destabilization of the DRC, using a system of sanctions and conditionality of aid.

Now is not the time for empty condemnations and empty words. The DRC and its partners, both public and private, must tackle the main structural causes driving the conflicts that persist in the east of the country, namely the exploitation and illegal trade in natural resources and the culture of impunity.

It is imperative that the USA, the EU, France, the UK and other partners adopt political and economic sanctions, and suspend their military assistance to Rwanda for as long as it supports the M23 militia and commits crimes of aggression against the DRC, and for as long as the regional states fail to respect in good faith the commitments made under the Framework Agreement.

This is the only language that will have concrete effects, namely putting an end to the suffering of millions of Congolese wandering in Eastern Congo due to Rwandan interference.

Denis Mukwege

Nobel Peace Prize 2018

15 décembre 2024 — L’échec du sommet tripartite dans le cadre du processus de Luanda illustre l’impasse politique et diplomatique dans laquelle se trouve ce processus, malgré la bonne volonté du Président de l’Angola Lourenço.

Cette impasse des processus de Luanda et de Nairobi remet à jour l’impératif de redynamiser l’Accord-Cadre d’Addis Abeba pour la paix, la sécurité et la coopération, signé en 2013.

Cet accord était le premier visant à « s’atteler aux causes profondes du conflit et à mettre fin aux cycles de violence récurrents » à l’Est de la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) et dans la région des Grands Lacs africains, avec divers États et institutions comme co-garants, y compris l’Union Européenne, la Belgique, les Etats-Unis d’Amérique, la France et le Royaume-Uni et le soutien notamment des Nations Unies, de l’Union Africaine et de la Banque Mondiale, dans le cadre de la consolidation d’une stratégie pour la paix et le développement.

Cet accord de paix, qui constitue la dernière initiative sérieuse ayant comme objectif à mettre fin au conflit le plus meurtrier depuis la 2e guerre mondiale, vise à neutraliser et à démobiliser les groupes armés, nationaux et étrangers, et à réaffirmer les principes de base du droit international avec divers engagements de la RDC, des États voisins et de la communauté internationale.

Les promesses portées par l’Accord-Cadre sont loin d’être réalisées à ce jour et, dans le contexte de l’échec des initiatives politiques et diplomatiques actuelles, il nous semble crucial de les remettre à l’agenda international pour enclencher une désescalade face aux tensions régionales, faire taire les armes à l’Est du Congo et relancer une dynamique de paix dans la région.

Comme l’avait souligné le Pape François lors de son dernier séjour à Kinshasa: « Nous ne pouvons pas nous habituer au sang qui coule dans ce pays, depuis des décennies désormais en RDC, faisant des millions de morts à l’insu de beaucoup ». Il est en effet plus que temps de sortir la tragédie congolaise de l’indifférence et de la négligence. Pour ce faire, il faudra revitaliser d’urgence l’Accord-Cadre avec la mobilisation des pays et des institutions « co-garantes ».

La stabilité au cœur de l’Afrique est essentielle pour la paix et la sécurité internationales, mais aussi pour l’économie mondiale et la transition énergétique. Ainsi, la diplomatie internationale et les acteurs économiques et du secteur privé doivent mobiliser tous les leviers à leur disposition pour contribuer à mettre un terme aux agressions récidivistes des pays à la base de la déstabilisation de la RDC en utilisant le recours à un régime de sanctions et de conditionnalité de l’aide.

Le temps n’est plus à des condamnations creuses et à des paroles vides. La RDC et ses partenaires tant publics que privés doivent s’attaquer aux principales causes structurelles qui constituent les éléments moteurs des conflits qui persistent à l’Est du pays, à savoir l’exploitation et le commerce illégal des ressources naturelles et la culture de l’impunité.

Il faut impérativement que les Etats-Unis d’Amérique, l’UE, la France, le Royaume-Uni et d’autres partenaires adoptent des sanctions politiques et économiques, et suspendent leur assistance militaire au Rwanda tant qu’il soutiendra le M23 et agressera la RDC, et tant que les États de régions ne respecteront pas de bonne foi les engagements pris au titre de l’Accord-Cadre.

C’est le seul langage qui entrainera des effets concrets à savoir mettre fin à la souffrance des millions de Congolais en errance à l’Est du Congo due à l’ingérence rwandaise à l’Est du Congo.

Denis Mukwege

Prix Nobel de la Paix 2018

October 14 and 16, 2024 was the official launch of the women’s health service user committees (CFU) activities. The ceremony took place successively at Panzi Foundation in Bukavu for the Ibanda Health Zone, and in Kaziba/ territoire de Walungu for the Kaziba Health Zone, in the presence of various personalities, political-administrative, customary, and religious authorities, including representatives of the Médecins Chefs des Zones (MCZ) of these two Health Zones, the Medical Director of the Kaziba General Referral Hospital, certain members of the management teams of these two health zones, the representative of the Kaziba traditional chief, the Panzi district chief, the pastors of the various religious concessions, the gender focal points and representatives of civil society.

The mission of the CFUs (women health service users) is to carry out awareness-raising and other activities to help increase the use of health services, particularly sexual and reproductive health services, by women in rural and semi-urban areas. This will reinforce the social mobilization actions of CODEV (Comité de Développement) in its implementation of health activities.

This is because rural and semi-urban health zones are particularly vulnerable, with low indicators for sexual and reproductive health services. The President of the Comité des Femmes Utilisatrice des Services de Santé (CFU) in the Ibanda zone, Madame Noëlla Munyiragi, and her fellow members, sought to raise awareness among women of the importance of attending health centers for prenatal consultations, childbirth, post-natal consultations, pre-school consultations, family planning, hygiene in health structures and the community, holistic management of gender-based violence, etc. “Often through ignorance, many women do not have access to health services,” she says.

“Often out of ignorance, many women lose their lives giving birth at home because of lack of information, fear of hospital bills. But with us as CFU members, we’re going to make an effort to sensitize them and show them the importance of going to hospitals,” she says.

For the President of the Kaziba CFU, Madame Asifiwe Basimike Aline: “We’re making women aware of the need to attend pre-natal consultations, from the 4th week of pregnancy, and to follow the appointment sessions right up to delivery, in order to benefit from the various services and inputs necessary for their state of pregnancy. A woman must not fall ill in her neighborhood or community. We need to raise her awareness so that she goes immediately to the health center to reduce the risk of serious illness and/or maternal death”. “We have 725 members, but the committee itself has 13 members.” She added.
She thanked Dr Denis Mukwege and Panzi Foundation for continuing this vision for the Kaziba chiefdom.

Finally, the president of Kaziba’s civil society, Mr Joyeux Badesire, added: “We are here to support all CFU actions, so that women can quickly access care in our health zone. But we are also going to create radio spaces to broadcast awareness-raising messages so that the information is relayed to a greater number of people in the community”.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the two CFUs of the Ibanda and Kaziba health zones, with the Panzi Foundation, the Panzi general referral hospital, and the Central Office of the Ibanda and Kaziba health zones.

The various beneficiaries of this project thanked Dr Denis Mukwege, who never ceases to remember them, by including them in various projects.
This official launch of CFU in the two health zones of Ibanda and Kaziba took place within the framework of Panzi Foundation’s Tumaini project.
The Tumaini project is implemented by the International Health Unit and the Hygeia Observatory of the Université de Montréal, with the support of Panzi Foundation. It is supported by Avocats Sans Frontières Canada and Global Strategies.

The Tumaini Project is financially supported by Canada through Global Affairs Canada.