"Women’s rights are desperately needed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo"

We have all seen the “Because I Am A Girl” campaign brought to us by international development agency, Plan. The main message highlights that girls in developing nations can change their family’s (and eventually, their country’s) circumstances if given the opportunities and advantages that boys are privileged to have.

Around the world, girls face barriers such as gender discrimination and as a result, systematically, they have become disadvantaged. They are most likely to live in poverty, live at home to support their families, be denied a basic education and health care. By including females and giving them opportunities to participate in all aspects of society will the systematic cycle they face be reversed.

Political parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have also recognized the need for women to participate in parliament to advance women’s rights. IRIN reports that one out of 10 women invited to join the Citizen Alliance for Public Safety (political party) accepted the invitation. This can be attributed to the lack of “education and resources” that women face.

A political candidate needs a three-year university degree. At the same time, women have been sexually assaulted for taking a stance on violence. In the DRC, there is a zero-tolerance policy on sexual violence created by president Kabila. However, as Lyric Thompson of Amnesty Intl. says, it is not working to protect women’s rights. She states that the official number of rape victims is 47 and the actual number of crimes is not reported. This is why there needs to be a greater importance on education for females. In order for them to influence government and public policy to change anything in the DRC, they need to have the resources to attain that degree and enter politics to create the policies that will protect their rights.

After speaking with a fellow journalism student that went to the DRC to teach journalism to Congolese media professionals, I thought that the same education could be applied to help reverse the corruption in the country.

Through Journalists for Human Rights, the money raised could teach female journalists in the Congo on how to report and write stories that could ultimately keep local politicians accountable and keep the rest of the world informed. She also mentioned that when interviewing females, it was a lot easier in the DRC because females had a stronger rapport with other females. And thus, this made it easier for her to gather interviews and report on stories.

By training female journalists in the DRC, there will also be professionals who understand how news can help influence government and also advance women’s rights by changing public opinion. By the year 2015, the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals are expected to be met.

There are now less than four years from the completion of the MDGs—and there is slow progress in action to meet these goals. There are now talks of a post-2015 goal revision plan. However, the United Nations has recognized that the goals cannot be achieved without females being given their equal rights in their country.

This makes sense: how do you improve maternal health, reduce child mortality, and promote gender inequality—when females do not have an equal footing in the first place? (Most of the MDGs need the participation and inclusion of females in order to be achieved). Hopefully, governments will recognize that by giving females rights, representation and participation in their respective societies, will their national quality of life improve in the future.