DRC: Celebration of International Women's Rights Day

After progress recorded in various sectors of daily life in the DRC, Béatrice Lomeya, Minister of Gender, Family and Children called on Congolese men and women to redouble their efforts for the years to come. “The advances of the last 5 years in favor of gender equality in the DRC concern in particular the elevation of the national ministry of gender to the rank of the ministry of State, the consideration of the gender dimension in the national strategic program and Development (PNSD) adopted by the government at the end of 2019, free basic education, revision of the national strategy to combat sexual and gender-based violence, improvement of the presence of women in various kingly positions,” greeted Béatrice Lomeya during her speech on the occasion of International Women's Day on March 8. And to add quotIn the face of these heartwarming achievements, there are challenges that do not yet allow us to give up, in accordance with the fifth objective of sustainable development which encourages us to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women by 2030. Some challenges are related to the insufficient financial and material resources allocated to awareness-raising and capacity-building projects and programs. Other challenges relate to restoring the rights of women and girls to sexual and reproductive health, land ownership and inheritance despite legislative and constitutional guarantees. This clearly shows that we have work to do to continue defending women's rights” explained the Minister of State in charge of gender. In addition, among the actions to be carried out during this month of March, sectoral partners and experts from the Ministry of Gender will carry out visits to the provinces of the DRC in order to raise awareness on the 12 critical areas of the Beijing action program. . To know; Women and the environment, women and decision-making, the girl child, women and the economy, women and poverty, violence against women, human rights of women, education and training of women, institutional mechanisms, women and health, women and the media, women and armed conflict. As a reminder, the theme chosen by the Ministry of Gender for the day of March 8 was “Congolese and Congolese, let us rise to defend women's rights” and at the global level, the theme is “I am from the equality generation; Stand up for women's rights.”