UN Authority Figures

UN Women, Executive Board: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Continuing violence in southern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has led to thousands of violent sexual assaults, accompanied by widespread killing and torture, aid agencies have said.
Source: The Guardian, November 2, 2018. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Mission of the UN Women: "The main roles of UN Women are: To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms; To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society; To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress." (UN Women website)

Term of office: 2020-2022

Democratic Republic of the Congo's Record on Women's rights:
"Human rights issues included... violence against women and children, caused in part by government inaction, negligence;... Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture: UN agencies and NGOs reported the SSF [state security forces] arrested, illegally detained, raped, and tortured 662 civilians, including 68 women, through August 31 in conflict-affected areas. RMGs [rebel and militia groups] committed abuses in rural areas ... including killing, raping, and torturing civilians... RMG members raped men, women, and minors as part of the violence among and between them and the FARDC [Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo] ... Combatants and other civilians abused IDPs [internally displaced persons]. Abuses included killings, sexual exploitation of women and children (including rape)... Women Rape and Domestic Violence: The law on sexual violence criminalizes rape, but the offense was not always reported by victims and the law was not always enforced. Rape was common. The legal definition of rape does not include spousal rape. It also prohibits extrajudicial settlements (for example, a customary fine paid by the perpetrator to the family of the victim) and forced marriage, allows victims of sexual violence to waive appearance in court, and permits closed hearings to protect confidentiality. The minimum penalty prescribed for conviction of rape is a prison sentence of five years, and courts regularly imposed such sentences in rape convictions. From January to August... at least 893 women and girls were victims of sexual and gender based violence... Most survivors of rape did not pursue formal legal action due to insufficient resources, lack of confidence in the justice system, family pressure, and fear of subjecting themselves to humiliation, reprisal, or both. The law does not provide any specific penalty for domestic violence despite its prevalence. Although the law considers assault a crime, police rarely intervened in perceived domestic disputes. There were no reports of judicial authorities taking action in cases of domestic or spousal abuse."
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights 2018, Democratic Republic of the Congo)