#ImamsForShe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), #ImamsForShe has been operating with the partnership of AICNDH since 2019, when the initiative spread from Burundi to two neighboring countries - Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the few years since the expansion, #ClubsForShe overnight camps, education workshops for women and girls, and information workshops for Imams and other religious leaders have been held to promote the mission of #ImamsForShe across the DRC.
THIS PROGRAMMING IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH SUPPORT FROM WALLACE GLOBAL FUND
2020 Highlights
2019 Highlights
EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS
#ImamsForShe Educational Workshops help to empower leaders and change-makers in Muslim communities across the world to oppose misogynistic teachings and practices. In partnership with AICNDH, #ImamsForShe DRC has held educational workshops targeted at imams, religious leaders, and female community leaders to help educate them on advocacy techniques and to provide counter narratives to misogynistic teachings of Islam. The most recent workshop, held in May 2020 brought 30 leaders together over a three day period in Gusuru to teach values of positive masculinity and to relearn human rights language as a counter narrative to misogynistic and violence-based solutions. Over the course of the three days, presentations and breakout groups sought to expose participants to Qur’anic narratives against gender based violence (GBV), along with practical and realistic ideological solutions to counter sociological causes of GBV.
#ClubsForShe
Launched in 2017 in Burundi, #ClubsForShe are sports camps for young women and girls, run by AICNDH. The camps serve as safe spaces where participants talk about their experiences, lives and aspiration. In this safe space, participants learn about their rights from #ImamsForShe champions, who base their curriculum off of the Qur’an, the UN Declaration of Human Rights, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The goal of the camps is to sensitize girls to their rights as encoded in international law so that they can defend them against religious teachings and communal practices that seek to undermine women’s dignity and rights. By teach women and young girls to stand up for their own rights, #ClubsForShe is designed to defend women’s rights across #ImamsForShe communities.
The first #ClubsForShe in the DRC was held on in August 2020 over a three day period in Bukavu, DRC. The event brought together 30 women leaders from the city Uvira to participate in trainings and workshops on community resilience and entrepreneurship skills for rural areas. As participants in the event, the women committed to promoting the empowerment of women in the community, creating income generation activities, and collaborating with one another in associations or groups.
KHOUTBAHS
Across the DRC, #ImamsForShe Imams gave Khoutbahs, or Friday sermons, to mixed gender audiences at nine mosques across South Kivu and North Kivu in 2020 These sermons covered a number of different topics, including women’s rights in Islam, forced marriages, family planning, and girls education. Over 1500 individuals, including 1291 men and 325 women were present for these lectures. A full breakdown of the congregation make up and a complete list of subjects covered in the Khoutbahs is below.
