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Edito
Viviane [this month’s Encounter] and Lucie, two African women, describe their daily battle to obtain respect for human rights. One of them lives in a war-torn country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the other in a country under reconstruction, Burundi. They describe the same scene: violence as a weapon of war or of terror, and in all cases, daily violence towards women and children. They describe their experience with words, and sometimes with silence. Eloquent silence when words do not suffice to describe injustice, bitterness and feelings of deprivation. But silence itself becomes guilty when it prevents justice and respect for the dignity of thousands of women whose most basic rights are ignored. Their method of resistance? Non-violence. These women, who deal in the law, like the young community mediators [this month’s Testimony], are all agreed about the necessity for peace. Their fights for justice employ the same method: non-violence. As we have witnessed, these acts of peaceful resistance extend across the entire African continent, from the civic disobedience of women living in war zones to projects aiming to restore a true social link and a respected place for woman in society. L’Association pour la promotion de l’entreprenariat féminin (Association for the promotion of woman entrepreneurship), in South-Kivu (Democratic Republic of Congo), aspires to establish women as fully-fledged players in economic and social development, most particularly by giving them access to training and micro-credit. In Côte d’Ivoire and Rwanda, this is a time of reconstruction, giving women the opportunity to reaffirm their role as pillars of society and to command respect for this role. This resistance to violence, as shown by Lucie, Viviane and many other African women, often at risk to their own lives, is exemplary and brings hope to all those who are engaged throughout the world in the defense of the oppressed. Elise Reslinger - Frères des Hommes |
Participating/ South Africa
Is it a crime to wear a miniskirt?
“We like our minis.” “There are no shortcuts in women’s rights.” These were the messages written on banners by hundreds of men and women, who demonstrated hand in hand in March 2008 in Johannesburg, South Africa. This demonstration took place after an attack on a young woman by a taxi driver, simply because she was wearing a miniskirt. Remmoho Women’s Forum and People Opposing Women’s Abuse, organised two demonstrations of support, in order to raise awareness of women’s’ rights, still fragile in this country. Thousands of women use cabs every day, a lot of them have to face drivers’ insults, sexist stickers, sexual abuse and sometimes even rape because their clothes are considered indecent. These acts, more and more frequent over the past 10 years, are rarely the subject of police investigations, nor are they denounced by the media. Read this article
Demonstrating/ Africa
Food self-sufficiency on the agenda at the World Social Forum
To exchange, develop, discuss, demonstrate ; in favor of food self-sufficiency, peace, democracy; against poverty and Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) which aim to establish free trade between African countries and the European Union. The World Social Forum, decentralized this year, took place worldwide from the 25th to 27th of January 2008. The following is an account of those two days of decentralised mobilization and action, held in Togo, Cameroon and South Africa. Read this article
Training / Benin
Handicapped people in their own community
Alain, a physiotherapist, Yves, a special needs teacher and six volunteers welcome handicapped children, with their parents at the meeting center of the Equilibre Bénin Association. Located in Abomey-Calavi, South Benin, in three raised straw huts, the socio-educational center is a place for exchange and meeting. Alain is himself handicapped and was taken into care by the Association. Today he teaches mothers basic physiotherapy, thus giving them confidence to deal with the handicap of their child. Volunteers trained by the association hold discussion groups, where they talk to parents about hygiene and nutrition, and where they insist on the need for support and mutual aid. Constance Facia, founder and President of the Association, and social worker for over 30 years, explains that “the success of the centre lies in the fact that parents can talk to other parents and share their experience. It is also a space where parents can talk and receive comfort which they don’t get from their families.” Read this article
Cooperating/ Mali French deportees testify
“No to deportation.” “No to repression.” “Rights and justice for all.”. These were the messages written on banners at the cultural centre Djoliba in the town centre of Bamako, Mali. More than 700 people present in Mali on the 15th and 16th of March last responded to the appeal of the Deported Malians Association (Association des Maliens expulsés [AME]), reuniting deportees from European countries (notably France) and repressed persons from North Africa. Read this article
Informing/ Burkina Faso Laabali, a window onto society
The idea? Create a new medium to inform, educate and entertain. The answer ? Laabaali ! A magazine unlike any other, created by participants in the training scheme to teach Gulmacema, the language of Burkina Faso. The journal has become a forum for these students to use their new language skills to write articles and to become “press correspondents”. They also form part of the Editorial Board, dealing with contributions from correspondents. Trained by professional journalists, they learn to collate and handle news items. The journal is printed by the printing house Programme d’alphabétisation de Gulmu, located at Fada. Laabaali, which can claim the status of a real newspaper, is today a huge popular success. Read this article
Testimony/ Great Lakes Young mediators building peace in the Great Lakes region
More than a thousand Rwandans, Congolese and Burundians, aged from 16 to 26 years, marched together in July 2007 to deliver a message of peace. This March for Peace was the closing ceremony of a vast programme entitled Amahoro-Amani (“peace” in kirundi, the language of Burundi, and in swahili) launched in October 2005 by seven associations of scouts and guides of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. Over two years, 420 young people were trained in mediation, prevention and peaceful handling of conflicts, in order to promote long-term peace in this region, which has been recently destabilized by conflict. Read this article
Portrait/ Democratic republic of Congo Viviane Kitété, a lawyer committed to helping the deprived
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Viviane Kitété, has devoted her career as a lawyer to the defence of female victims of violence and abuse, in a context where these victims find it very difficult to have their rights recognized. She fights courageously against the widespread use of rape as a weapon of war, and denounces the faulty legal system of her country. Read this article
| Contributions
Togo : Elorm Kokou Amegadze, Elise Esso
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