Goma: women from the WMW organize a big mobilization during the International Peace Day

On September 21st, more than 600 people went out into the streets of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to celebrate the International Peace Day. The event is part of the preparations for the closing of the World March of Women’s 3rd International Action, which will be held in Bukavu from 13 to 17 October. In the Goma action took part women from local communities and also from other regions of Congo, such as South Kivu and Kinshasa and even from other countries, like Burundi and Rwanda.

Detail: the peace torch (in the picture) was brought by the Rwandan women. Apart from the march, there were also some political talks. At the end, the participants planted typical local species of trees, handed over by the Ministry of the Environment. 

The militants from Goma have been preparing for the 3rd International Action since December 2009, when CAFED organized the first mobilization in the city. Since then, the mobilization has been growing bigger and today there is an increasing number of followers. Edos Nziavake, member of CAFED, tells us how it was: “At the beginning there were just a few of us. We got in touch with authorities, NGOs and agencies. We spread the WMW in popular markets. We talked to women of all the churches (Catholics, Protestants, Muslims), with workers from formal companies, female police officers, women politicians and young students. This way, our mobilization grew bigger and culminated in the International Peace Day.” Apart from CAFED, in charge of the Goma mobilization, there are other organizations integrating the action organization committee in the DR of Congo: COFAS in Bukavu and CONAFED in Kinshasa.