As part of this campaign, the ITUC and ICEM published a new study titled: “Violence against in the eastern RDC: Whose responsibility? Whose complicity?"

Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been ravaged by war and violence since the mid-1990s. Dozens of illegal armed groups and army units have been responsible for endless human rights abuses and widespread insecurity. Civilians carry the greatest burden of the conflict. Innocent people get attacked, abused, and killed by all sides. Women and girls are especially vulnerable to such attacks. Sexual and gender-based violence has become a defining characteristic of the conflict, a tactic of war. Hundreds of women and girls get sexually violated in their homes and at their workplace, including in mining areas, every month. Fuelled and motivated by Congo’s minerals, rebel and army forces are inclined to maintain an insecure environment that ensures the continuation of the status quo. Congo’s conflict minerals go through a convoluted, yet manageable and traceable, supply chain and end up in industrialised consumer products. The introduction of transparency and governance into the mining sector is advancing, but still much has to be done. Persistent impunity for sexual and gender-based violence and other human rights violations in the country reinforce insecurity and violence in the region. Efforts at strengthening the justice system are too slow, but the importance of law and justice in ending the conflict in Eastern DRC has been recognised.

The ITUC would like to mark the day of the 25th of November by mobilising all its affiliated organisations. The ITUC Women’s Committee recommends a special focus on the situation of women in the DRC.

The slogan for international solidarity is:

“Stop violence and impunity:

Justice for the women of the DRC!”.