Congo Speakers' Tour

WHAT IS IT?

In September 2008, ENOUGH is launching a multi-year campaign to protect and empower the women of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As part of the campaign, ENOUGH is partnering with STAND – the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network - to launch a speakers’ tour of college campuses and high schools across the country to educate students about the conflict in DR Congo, the resulting epidemic of sexual violence against women and girls, and how they can be a part of the solution that will bring lasting peace to this central African nation.

Potential speakers will include ENOUGH co-Chairs John Prendergast and Gayle Smith, as well as prominent experts, journalists, and Congolese activists to paint a picture of life in the Congo and hope for its future. The event will also include video clips of interviews from the field and messages from celebrities and other spokespeople.

At most stops, the tour will be accompanied by “CONGO/Women,” a traveling photography exhibit highlighting the beauty and strength of the girls and women of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who are currently battling an unprecedented wave of gender based violence and a lack of essential medical care. The installation will weave life size color images printed on fabric and paper panels by photographers Linsey Addario, Marcus Bleasdale, and Ron Haviv.

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

ENOUGH will provide the speakers and cover their costs. All you have to do is reserve the event space and promote the event on your campus and in your community.

If you would like to host the CONGO/Women exhibit with the speakers’ tour, there will be a minimal cost to cover the production and shipping costs of the exhibit.

WHAT SUPPORT WILL I GET FROM ENOUGH AND STAND?

ENOUGH will line up the speakers and their travel needs. You will also be provided with an event-planning checklist and promotional guide to help walk you through the process. ENOUGH and STAND will work with you to advertise the event to the press, as well as line up a local high-profile speaker to introduce the event.

WHY DR CONGO?

Between 1996 and 2002, the Democratic Republic of the Congo played host to the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II. More than 5.4 million people have died from the ravaging effects of war and its aftermath. Today, DR Congo is caught in an epidemic of appalling sexual violence and is on the brink of its third major war, yet the international response has been solely inadequate.

Following a landmark peace agreement and a tumultuous political transition backed by the world’s largest United Nations peacekeeping operation, DR Congo held largely successful elections in 2006. However, elections were not a panacea to Congo’s ills; 45,000 people die each month, mostly from hostilities and the crippling effects of widespread displacement in the country’s eastern provinces. Some 500,000 people were displaced in 2007, and women and girls are routinely subjected to appalling acts of sexual torture.

Darfur activists are learning that their concern for the crisis in Sudan stretches beyond the country’s borders. Crimes against humanity taking place in Uganda, the Central African Republic, Chad, and Congo, help maintain instability and bring about further human rights abuses to Sudan and these surrounding countries. Crimes against humanity must be addressed and prevented wherever they occur.

DR CONGO WOMEN - THE SILENT VICTIMS

Congolese women and girls in particular bear the vicious brunt of this crisis. Indeed, eastern DR Congo right now is perhaps the worst place in the world to be a woman or a girl. The sexual violence and rape that exists on a scale seen nowhere else in the world is part and parcel of the conflict. Yet it is the palpable silence cloaking these crimes against humanity that has, in part, enabled this “war within the war” to continue unabated for 10 years and that has allowed the rape and destruction of thousands of women, their families and communities.

WHY NOW?

In the past few months, the United States and its allies did the high-level diplomacy necessary to secure a peace agreement between the Congolese government and multiple armed groups operating in the East. While the recent ceasefire agreement is hailed as a diplomatic success, the continued suffering of Congolese civilians remains an international failure. Not surprisingly, the prevalence of sexual violence in Eastern Congo received no mention in the lengthy ceasefire agreement, and women were mentioned only once.

The peace deal is just the beginning. The United States government, working closely with its allies, must strongly support the peace deal’s implementation and help rid eastern Congo of the militias that wreak havoc on civilian populations. U.S. citizens have a vital role to play in pressuring the U.S. to move Congo up on the foreign policy agenda, because strong U.S. engagement can avert a catastrophic conflict and help secure lasting peace in DR Congo.

THE CAMPAIGN: RAISE Hope for Congo

The RAISE Hope for Congo campaign will aim to protect and empower Congolese women and girls through developing a permanent and diverse activist constituency for eastern Congo. There is no strong U.S. constituency to end the human rights abuses taking place in eastern Congo. The absence of an organized constituency for Congo is an enormous gap and one that must be filled in order to secure lasting peace.

This multifaceted and multiyear campaign will provide a menu of options at opportune times throughout the campaign through which activists can get involved, including:

• RAISE Awareness: The campaign will provide the tools necessary for activists to educate themselves and their communities about the conflict in DR Congo and the epidemic of sexual violence against women and girls.
• RAISE Your Voice: The campaign will provide a menu of actions that activists can take to raise their voice and call for an end to the conflict and sexual violence in Congo. This menu will include supporting legislative efforts, such as the International Violence Against Women Act, as well as calling on the U.S. government to implement policies consistent with the 3 P’s – Peace, Protection and Punishment - and supporting Congolese activists working on the ground to protect and empower Congolese women.
• RAISE the Profile: The campaign will provide the tools necessary for activists to raise the profile of the Congo conflict in the media and on the national stage. In addition to sample op-eds and letters to the editor, the campaign will also provide and engage in blogging and social networking strategies.

If you are interested in hosting the RAISE Hope for Congo Speakers’ Tour, please fill out the attached application and return it to congocampaign@enoughproject.org