A Night of Music and Film from the Congo...

Saturday, March 26 at 9:30pm - March 27 at 1:00am The Ritzy Cinema, Brixton, London, United Kingdom  "A fringe event of the Human Rights watch Film Festival, "Dance in my shoes" a night of dancing and fun, follows the Congolese film Push the Elephant. It will be showing "Walk in my Shoes" produced and directed by Fionna Smyth, a film about last years women's march in the Congo then ripping the night up with a Congolese band and DJs. Free Entry or a donation at the door."

Support Women in 'Building Bridges of Peace' on International Women's Day!

As you all probably know I'm taking part in organizing an event in Montreal for International Women's Day on March 8. I hope you will all make it. For those of you who don't live in Montreal and are able to attend, there are over a hundred "Join Me on the Bridge" events taking place all over the world, in places like: Kampala, Melbourne, New York City, Tokyo, London, and Nairobi etc. In Canada alone there will be 8 events (Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto etc). Support this global movement and the idea that 'Stronger Women Build Bridges of Peace'!

Go to http://www.womenforwomen.org/bridge/attend-bridge-event.php to register for an event.

Pictures from the Opening of "City of Joy" Earlier this Month in Bukavu, the Democratic Republic of Congo

To see more pictures visit V-days website: www.vday.org/node/2638

"Ruined" is Coming to Washington in April!

If you missed Lynn Nottage's play "Ruined", playing in Toronto earlier this month, you will have a chance to see it between April 22-June 5 in Washington DC at the Arena Stage in the Fichandler. The play won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and involves the plight of women in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.  It is a must see!

Join Women on the Bridge for International Women's Day!

Hi everyone,
I'm taking part in organizing an event for International Women's Day in Montreal on the 8th of March and would like you to join me.

We will be marking the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day on 8th March 2011, by organizing a movement of women to join together on a bridge. Women, children and men, whether it's 2, 200, 2000, or more, will be joining together on bridges across the world, holding up banners, making a public statement that 'Stronger Women Build Bridges of Peace' and supporting women in war-torn areas. We will be calling for women to have a greater say at the peace negotiating tables and for countries to honour the UN goals they have signed up to, and to bring an end to violence against women in areas of conflict.

We will meet at 6pm at the Jean Drapeau Metro Station on Ile St.Hélene, Montreal. We will have a 1.5km walk at twilight to the Jacques Cartier Bridge carrying 100 white lit candles to represent the 100th International Women s Day. We will celebrate on the Bridge with some great live music entertainment and hot cocoa.

Be part of it. One woman can change anything. Many women can change everything.

I would love to have you all join me, it will be a fantastic event!
Hope to see you there/Emmicki

New York Times Article About "City of Joy"

Fighting Congo’s Ills With Education and an Army of Women

"BUKAVU, Democratic Republic of Congo — Eve Ensler has an audacious plan. For years, diplomats, aid workers, academics and government officials here have been vexed almost to the point of paralysis about how to attack this country’s staggering problem of sexual violence, in which hundreds of thousands of women have been raped, many quite sadistically, by the various armed groups who haunt the hills of eastern Congo. Sending in more troops has compounded the problem. United Nations Peacekeepers have failed to stop it. Would reforming the Congolese military work? Building up the Congolese state? Pushing harder to regulate so-called conflict minerals to starve the rebels of an income?

For Ms. Ensler, the feminist playwright who wrote “The vagina Monolouge” and who has worked closely with Congolese women, the answer was simple. “You build an army of women,” she said. “And when you have enough women in power, they take over the government and they make different decisions. You’ll see. They’ll say ‘Uh-uh, we’re not taking this any longer,’ and they’ll put an end to this rape problem fast.”

Over the weekend, Ms. Ensler took the first step toward building this army: the opening of a base here in Bukavu called City of Joy."

To continue reading the article click on the link bellow:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/world/africa/07congo.html?_r=2

In the News

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Margot Wallström Urges End to Sexual Violence Against Women at African Union Summit

Afrique en ligne reports that Ban Ki-moon addressed the international community this week at the African Union Summit stating "The international community in general and men in particular must understand that sexual violence against women is a crime and that everybody has the responsibility to fight it wherever it takes place" and "'We are now addressing this problem globally and leaders of all countries where sexual violence is prevalent should have this issue clearly in their mind."

The Secretary General specifically called journalists to brief them on the steps being taken by the Security Council to combat sexual violence by involving the international community to stop all perpetrators of this crime against women and children, saying the Council resolution on the matter had an in-built accountability system. As from December, 2010, the UN is pursuing a four-track approach in combating sexual violence against women that entails monitoring and reporting incidents more effectively; listing, naming and shaming perpetrators; travel ban and assets freeze; and ending impunity to identified perpetrators of the crime, said Margot Wallström, UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. (Afrique en ligne)

'Sexual violence against women is a global problem but on this continent [Africa], this is a phenomenon we have to stop immediately in conflict areas. This is a weapon of choice because it is cheap, silent and very effective,' Wallström said, noting that African leaders also agreed that it was criminal. According to Margot Wallström, the UN has set an agenda on which it would collaborate with governments and non-governmental organisations to provide training to the military, the police and civilians to end sexual violence and empower women.(Afrique en ligne)

53 New Rape Cases Reported by the UN in the Democratic Republic of Congo

AFP reports that the UN has documented another 53 cases of rape in eastern Congo, brining its total rape count to 120 since the begining of 2011. Between January 19 to 23, "53 people were raped on the market road to Milimba and Kitumba" two villages in Sud-Kivu province, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.
"Humanitarian workers who organized evaluation missions along this axis," have confirmed the facts, OCHA said, adding men and children figured among the victims.

The UN earlier said that Congolese forces had raped more than 67 women in Sud-Kivu and neighbouring Nord-Kivu province in early January. The Congolese government has expressed "reservations" about the UN's first set of numbers, saying only three victims have been formally identified and denouncing an alleged "smear campaign" against its armed forces. (AfP)

Lynn Nottage's "Ruined" is Playing in Toronto

Last year I meet Lynn Nottage during a hearing in the Brittish parliament on the current situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, she was very inspireing, talking about the survivors of sexual violence in eastern Congo who she has based her play on. Recently a friend informed me that "Ruined" is now playing in Toronto. For those of you who are in Toronto, I strongly recommend that you go and see it. 

Set in a present-day small mining town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lynn Nottage's Ruined (2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama) follows a young woman's path to Mama Nadi, a savvy businesswoman who, in the midst of a complex civil war, both protects and profits from the women whose bodies have become battlegrounds. At once heartbreaking and captivating, Ruined pays homage to the courageous and resilient women who must piece themselves together after the ruin.

"Ruined"  is playing at the Obsidian Theatre in Toronto until Feb 12th. For more information on tickets etc go to: http://www.obsidian-theatre.com/ruined.html