KINSHASA, DRC, 6 October 2013: The Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, and the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, undertook a joint visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo from 6 to 11 October to assess progress made on the implementation of the National Strategy on Gender-Based Violence.
This focused on efforts to restructure programmes to address sexual violence and deepen political commitment in the fight against sexual violence in DRC. The visit aims at following up on implementation of the Joint Communiqué signed on 30 March by the Government and the United Nations to address conflict-related sexual violence in the DRC.
The Joint Communiqué of 30 March outlines concrete steps the Government will take to combat sexual violence during conflict, including stronger measures against impunity and increased human rights vetting and screening of prospective security personnel. The United Nations Country Team has been supporting the efforts of the Government to implement the Joint Communiqué and National Strategy on Combating Gender Based Violence. Recently, the Government with the support of the Team of Experts on Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict elaborated a work plan for the implementation of the Joint Communiqué.
In this regard, SRSG Bangura and UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin will hold meetings with Government officials, UN entities and local partners and explore with Congolese authorities specific measures that national security entities could adopt to prevent sexual violence. In addition to meeting various stakeholders, SRSG Bangura will address a session of the DRC Senate and hold discussions with Senators from eastern DRC.
There has been widespread use of sexual violence against civilians since war broke out in Eastern Congo in the mid-1990s. It is estimated that nearly 40 per cent of women and more than 23 percent of men have suffered sexual assault, mostly rape.
“Sexual violence is not inevitable. The economic and human costs of sexual violence on communities and the country are tremendous. We must work together and commit to assisting the DRC,” said Dr. Osotimehin.
UNFPA is a founding member of UN Action Against Sexual Violence in conflict. UNFPA is active in addressing GBV in both humanitarian and development settings across DRC through three decentralized offices in Kinshasa, Goma and Lubumbashi and through international and national partners in 8 of the 11 DRC provinces.
Intense fighting over the past year in the province of North Kivu has uprooted more civilians and exposed an increasing number of women, girls and men to rape.
Assane Ba, UNFPA Kinshasa, aba@unfpa.org, +243 815304242
Alexandra Sicotte-Levesque, UNFPA New York, sicotte-levesque@unfpa.org, +1 646 309 6836
