‘Rights and Empowerment’ programme, Democratic Republic of Congo

The Pears Foundation has invested in Action Aid’s work in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2005. These funds have enabled ActionAid to support twelve ‘civil society organisations’ to build their capacity in and around the city of Goma in the country’s unstable eastern territory, and to demand social, political and economic change from their representatives at a local, regional and national level.

Two of the groups, MAODE and ANAMAD, work with hundreds of women who have been raped, infected with HIV and often excluded from their families. Other organisations run workshops for soldiers and the police on dealing with sexual violence in an effort to reduce both the incidence of attacks and the impunity associated with them; assist returnee communities who had been exiled by conflict, by training community paralegals to help ensure observance of human rights; and work with schools and youth groups using drama to express ideas of resolving conflict using peaceful means.

Click here to read a report of the project written by Charles Keidan, Director of The Pears Foundation

www.actionaid.org.uk