Democratic Republic of the Congo

Although more than three million people have died since the five-year conflict in their country began, Congolese women have designed innovative ways to contribute to peace-building efforts. A founding member and president of the International Foundation of African Women for Development, a pan-African organization for women’s capacity building, Monique Kande has long been active in the fields of peace and development. She is a founding member and executive secretary of the Congolese Women’s Caucus. Created to push for women’s involvement in the Inter-Congolese Dialogues, the Caucus brings together women from throughout different sectors and the full political spectrum in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). One of the Caucus’ major achievements is the inclusion of an article banning discrimination against women in the DRC’s transitional constitution. Ms. Kande currently serves as an expert for UNIFEM and All Africa Women for Peace, developing strategies for the integration of women at all levels of society and promoting the inclusion of gender aspects in all national policies and programs. As a consultant and technical adviser to the president of the National Union of Djibouti Women, she coordinated development projects to support women’s small enterprise and strengthened implementation capacity. She has been an adviser to her country’s ministries of defense and interior, responsible for conceptualizing, organizing, and following up on administrative and financial issues within the cabinet and related institutions. The former deputy director of the vice president’s office at the Center for Development Research, Ms. Kande advised the director on gender issues, advocated for research on women in the DRC, planned seminars and workshops, and handled general development. She is a member of the World Association of NGOs and the World Federation of Women for Peace. Ms. Kande received the title of Peace Ambassador from the World Inter-Religious Organization. Holding an advanced degree in political science (with a focus on development) from the Free University of Belgium, she has taken courses in development and women’s studies at Pittsburgh University in the United States.

Ms. Kande’s peace-building activities include:

• planning, coordinating, and supervising all OXFAM America field projects in the Horn of Africa as the organization’s representative to national authorities in the region;
• participating in training workshops in mediation and negotiation to prepare for the spring 2003 Inter-Congolese Dialogues;
• helping draft the Congolese Women’s Caucus Plan of Action, which argues that women need to be fully included in the Congolese peace process and cites their important role to date;
• conducting a study on the establishment of a Congolese Women’s Center for the UNDP
• being an observer of the May 2003 general elections in Togo for the Organization of African Unity; and
• bringing together Congolese and South African women to share experiences and participate in exercises on nonviolence and organizing a number of conferences on peace and security.

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