Press Release: Regional Women’s Forum on Resolution 1325 – July 25 to 27 – Bujumbura/Burundi

Regional Forum on Resolution 1325

Towards Women’s Peace in the Great Lakes

From July 25 to 27, a meeting of the Regional Forum on Resolution 1325, known as “Women, Peace and Security”, will take place in Bujumbura, Burundi. Activists from 4 countries – Burundi, Uganda, DRC and Rwanda – will take stock of progress and define their recommendations for building peace in the Great Lakes Region.

“This meeting is a decisive step in the involvement of women for peace in the Great Lakes, believes Justine Masika, president of the Synergy of women victims of sexual violence (SFVS), coordinator of the regional Forum on Resolution 1325 . Those who want to stifle the voices of women and civil society must be held accountable.”

Since 2018, the Regional Forum on Resolution 1325 (in reference to the “Women, Peace and Security” resolution of the United Nations Security Council) has been involved in the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in 4 countries of the Great Lakes region: Burundi, Uganda, DRC and Rwanda. In February 2018, a regional workshop took place in Goma. The recommendations of this workshop led to the organization of capacity building activities on organizational management, networking, advocacy and popularization of the 25 monitoring and evaluation indicators of 1325.

The Forum organized in Bujumbura, from July 25 to 27, by the SFVS, is a major milestone. 45 women and men from the 4 countries will share on the achievements of the capacity building workshops, the advances, strategies and techniques of the advocacy used as well as the challenges encountered during the restitutions in the provinces. Reports written for each country will be shared on this occasion.

The meeting will also make it possible to formulate arguments for jointly carrying out advocacy actions with the CIRGL (International Conference on the Great Lakes Region), the African Union and the United Nations Security Council.

Strengthen the gender perspective

The overall objective of this Forum is to strengthen the gender perspective in women, peace and security initiatives. Indeed, women find themselves in situations of great vulnerability due to the endless conflicts in the Great Lakes region.

The resumption of hostilities by the armed group M23 since May has affected cross-border trade. But this insecurity particularly affects women, the first victims of sexual violence, who live in a state of permanent tension. Especially since most have the responsibility to provide for the needs of their families. The massive displacements of women and children exacerbate the situation due to the lack of humanitarian assistance.

The SFVS (Synergie des Femmes pour les Victimes des Violences Sexuelles) is a complementarity of strength, means and skills of 35 organizations with female majorities which came together in 2002 to think about how to help abused women and girls, humiliated and rejected by society. The SFVS is based in Goma, North Kivu. – synergiedesfemmesnk.org_

This Forum is organized by the SFVS, with the support of the Basque Cooperation Agency.

Do not hesitate to contact us for:

• organize interviews of personalities present;
• collect testimonials from participants;
• consider reporting on our various activities;
• receive a summary of the assessments carried out in each country.

Press contact: Emily Katondolo – emiliekatondolo2@gmail.com – +243 973 955 877