Our partners in DR Congo: Comfort and confidence for 30 years

For decades, the two provinces of North and South Kivu, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been marked by war and violence. Amidst the brutality, our partner organisation PAIF works to uphold the rights of women. For 30 years, these activists have been supporting survivors of sexual violence. Their work is vital to the survival of thousands of women.

A young woman wearing a great hat sits behind a sewing machine, she is smiling.

Seven women posing for a group photo. Six of them are wearing white hats.

Two women sitting on a blanket on the floor. Behind each of them is sitting a hair dresser on a chair, who does their hair.

A group of young women dancing, waving to the camera.

A woman writes something on a big white sheet of paper

In sewing courses, the participants learn the necessary basics to be able to start their own business. © Esther Nsapu/medica mondiale

One ingredient of independence: Baker training at PAIF. © Esther Nsapu/medica mondiale

After the training, the PAIF team gives the young hairdressers starter kits full of hair combs and clips. © Esther Nsapu/medica mondiale

PAIF advocates for women's rights - as seen here at an event on 8. March 2023. © Esther Nsapu/medica mondiale

PAIF staff members use the stress- and trauma-sensitive approach (STA) and undergo regular training in psychosocial measures. © Esther Nsapu/medica mondiale

“Sometimes I just keeled over. It was too much for me,” says Nia Shukuru. That is more than five years ago now. Her husband was dead. With no steady job, she was solely responsible for her five children. Then she was raped.

“I no longer felt human, no longer part of this world.”

Nia Shukuru, client of PAIF

Until someone told her about PAIF. Since 1993, medica mondiale’s partner organisation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been campaigning for women’s rights and an end to sexualised violence. In other words, PAIF and medica mondiale have as much experience as each other. They started co-operating in 2004.

At PAIF, Nia Shukuru learned how to process her brutal experience of violence. And she learned to bake. Meanwhile, she earns enough from selling pastries to feed herself and her children. “Today, I tell my story to women who feel the same way I did back then. It comforts them.”

DR Congo – One of the most dangerous countries in the world for women

The DR Congo is one of the most dangerous countries for women. Some 130 armed groups are currently fighting for power, territory and mineral resources. They fight with weapons and use sexualised violence to further their destructive aims. The perpetrators of sexualised violence include members of non-state armed groups, the army and the UN peacekeeping mission, but these are not all of them. Family members, acquaintances and teachers are also often responsible for assaults. For decades, violence has become ever more entrenched in society.

“We have an answer to the incidents of gender-based violence that women and girls experience. That answer is psychological support, along with legal and economic support – and much more.”

Immaculée Birhaheka, Chair of PAIF

Day after day, the team at PAIF cares for women and girls who have been raped. These numbered more than 1,600 in 2022. PAIF staff members accompany them to receive medical first aid and offer them psychosocial counselling. And they help survivors establish small businesses. Generating their own income is important to the women if they want to be independent and it is a prerequisite for them to maintain status within a society that stigmatises and excludes survivors.

This is why PAIF offers vocational training within its own training centre. After completing their courses, the newly trained tailors, hairdressers and bakers receive starter kits with basic equipment for their businesses. In 2022, PAIF handed over 833 of these kits full of combs and clasps, mixing bowls, sewing needles and coloured thread.

30 years of action for the rights of Congolese women

In order to hold perpetrators accountable and to prevent misdeeds in the first place, our partner organisation trains volunteers to advocate for women’s rights within their communities. Their staff raise awareness of the issues among employees in government authorities and police stations. In a study looking at sexualised violence in the school environment in South Kivu province, 77 per cent of students reported sexualised assaults. PAIF is active in 22 schools, working with parents, students and teachers to protect affected students and establish measures against violence. At participating schools, the number of reports increased by 10 per cent.

“It is profoundly impressive to see how the activists at PAIF – while facing everyday mortal danger – have continued unwaveringly to support women and girls in eastern Congo for 30 years.”

Sybille Fezer, Managing Director for Programme Work and Substantive Development at medica mondiale

PAIF has been advocating for the rights of Congolese women and girls for 30 years. The activists supported survivors during the Congo Wars (1996-2009) and afterwards, when violence by armed groups persisted in the eastern parts of the country. In 2018, staff braved one of the largest Ebola outbreaks in the country’s history and then Covid-19 followed in 2019. Even volcanic eruptions (2021) and floods (2023) could not stop them from standing by the women. Since November 2022 there has been heavy fighting in the in the Kivu provinces again. PAIF continues to stand with survivors and, amidst the violence, work towards a future where women and girls can live in dignity and justice.