CONGO
Position Paper
Delegation: The Democratic Republic of Congo Committee: Special Committee on women autrocities. Topic 1: Impact of women as sex workers in the society. The Democratic Republic of Congo considers the impact of sex workers in the society to be the primary problem facing countries in the world today. Addressing these issues is the dire need of the hour. These inhuman actions of rape, stoning, killing out of suspicion all these have been witnessed in war-prone zones. All these actions carried out by enemy troops or by military troops themselves is a common scenario in any conflict zone. The Democratic Republic of Congo opposes such acts at the outset. These acts though substantiated by the doers with some rights bestowed upon them still outlaws the human rights. These acts which are of international importance only because of the very reason that such acts therein violate the natural laws and man made laws to which provide humans right to live freely. Thus it is important that Special Committee for prevention of general crime addresses this issue and arrives at a resolution regarding ways to check this problem in the world. The Democratic Republic of Congo stands committed to work against sexual abuse which also is a major cause of genocide; and thus supporting UNs stand on stopping war rape. The Democratic Republic of Congo also believes in UNs condemnation towards this issue and opines that the committee should work not only to arrive at ways of addressing this problem but also provide support to those parts of the world which are victimized. Though Congo is not particularly experiencing these issues, such acts taking place in the continent of Africa particularly in places such as Libya, Syria, Sudan and in Asian countries such as Srilanka, Columbia, Nepal etc is condemned by the country and certainly has an interest in addressing this issue. Congo takes a stand and opines that Sexual violence in conflict needs to be treated as the war crime that it is. It can no longer be ignored or treated as an unfortunate collateral damage of war or unavoidable byproduct of political strife. War rapes not only harm the victim but can jeopardize the victims family and generations to come. Women especially are raped in order to get testimonies and information about enemy troops which is an obviously inhuman and unreasonable way to get the answers. These acts are sheer ways of taking away ones freedom. War rapes and sexual abuse in conflict zones must be treated as violations of law of human rights. The Democratic Republic of Congo puts forth to the Special committee that this issue need be addressed in the possible capacity and must involve the affected countries and therefore considering what those countries have to say about the measures to solve this issue. The nation also opines that UN should go to any extent to help such countries and if possible bring out laws in order to save any such future actions.
By, Aniketh Roy Choudhuri
CONGO
Position Paper
Delegation: The Democratic Republic of Congo Committee: Special Committee on women autrocities. Topic 2: Root cause for violence against women. The Democratic Republic of Congo supports the resolutions for the root causes for violence against women.The two women organizations from Democratic republic of Congo, together with Cordaid and GNWP, intend to go beyond setting out the scale of atrocities committed to women and girls in Democratic republic of Congo and go directly into analyzing and addressing the root causes. In two concise presentations two dimensions in tackling the root causes of gender based violence are highlighted: the need to address gender stereotypes and foster a culture of gender equality, and the need to end impunity of perpetrators of violence. The presentation of Observatoire de la Parit looks at gender-based discrimination at schools as a fertile ground for violence and how working with schools and teachers, changing textbooks and the school curriculum and providing special support structures for girls can make a difference. The second presentation looks at gaps in the security and justice sector, leading to a lack of protection of women and girls and impunity in cases of violence against women. Women are largely absent from both army and police, as well as the justice system. The two groups together with other civil society organizations are working with army and police to remove discriminatory policies and practices within which impedes women from joining. At the same time work is done with students to install a different concept of security and the role of army and police. The presentations end with clear recommendations. Policies addressing gender inequality and gender based discrimination need to be incorporated into other policy agendas. For example, for effective security and justice sector reform, the framework of UNSCR needs to be integrated into broader agendas such as the New Deal. I leave the room inspired by the analysis heard and learning of the work done by women to start tackling the causes of violence against women and girls. The message is clear: Lets cut the roots, lets pull them out, as one of the presenters puts it. And in this, the efforts by women given today surely provide new seeds of hope. She highlighted several significant efforts in that respect, namely, legal reforms to protect the rights of women, a review of the countrys Family Code, and efforts towards a rapid reestablishment of peace in the country. Other challenges on which the country was working included the need for compensation of women for sexual violence, the eradication of outdated customs and taboos that prevented the realization of womens rights, the reduction of early marriage and the mainstreaming of gender into all national projects and programmes, among others.
By, Aniketh Roy Choudhuri
