DR CONGO: Uniting for Peace and Gender Balance

ORGANISED BY: COFAPRI (Congolese Females Action for Promoting Rights and Development)

WHEN: March 8, 2012

EMAIL:  mugishondabuli@yahoo.com

WOMEN ON THE BRIDGE: COFAPRI on Join Women on the Bridge website

A Woman is a Bridge

"In the context of some DRC cultures, a woman is also a bridge because she unites two families that are her own and that of her husband. As regards to International Women's Day, the meaning becomes double and strong, because women and men are standing on the bridge."

On International Women's Day (IWD),COFAPRI members join the women of the whole world in celebrating this great event.

In recognition of IWD, its members recently met at Cibimbi village, and they included women, girls, and some boys.

As there was no bridge around in the area, the women and men members of COFAPRI stood in a circle hand-in-hand, as a sign of peace, unity, and breaking discrimination that is often directed to women and their daughters.

For us, the bridge was virtual and it conveyed a real meaning: it symbolized the connection of two areas that were separate before. In meeting on a bridge, people unite what was separate before. Besides, women meeting on a bridge are also another bridge.

In the context of some DRC cultures, a woman is also a bridge because she unites two families that are her own and that of her husband. As regards to International Women's Day, the meaning becomes double and strong, because women and men are standing on the bridge.

The members we met belong to one village. We could not dare venture into other villages, as insecurity is prevalent in the area.

The members who were present said that although they belong to one village, they still represent all the women of the world, including the other women of their group who could not descend mountains and join us because insecurity is prevalent in the area.

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