Google ‘women of the Democratic Republic of Congo’ and go to one of the sites that come up to donate money. Mention them in a blog post or article. Talk to your friends about them. Help to raise awareness and encourage others to help in whatever little way they can. Every little counts. Tey are our sisters. Just imagine, it could have been you. You are no better.”


FOLAKE TAYLOR is the author of Te Only Way is Up: Te Journey of an Immigrant.


“Te enjoinder ‘Women and children first’ has come to take on the opposite meaning in too many modern conflicts. In Sierra Leone where my family live I saw


this firsthand. Every woman in our village was raped the day the rebels overran the area. Tey included my aunts, my cousins, and the woman who took care of me when I was a child. Too oſten these events are reported in the western media as random acts of violence. Tey are anything but random. Te mass rape of women, the torture and beating of civilians: these events are planned, co-ordinated and executed with the precision of any military operation. Teir purpose is to cow a civilian population into compliance. It’s important we understand that before anything else, because it helps us understand what to do. Te International Criminal Court in Te Hague have arrested some of the commanders of armies responsible and charged them with war crimes. Tere are still more of them out there and the ICC intends to issue more warrants. People the world over need to send a clear message to these men that there is no such thing as impunity. If you do one thing to help the women of the DRCongo, please write to ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo at the ICC in Te Hague and pledge your support.”


AMINATTA FORNA is author of three books, including Te Memory of Love.


“Te war that has plagued the DRCongo has made victims of all of its women who have endured loss and grief, violence and rape, hunger and disease. Tis violence


must stop. And it must stop now, for the sake of future generations of Congolese people. All people of conscience, men and women, must bear witness to this violence and support local Congolese organisations that provide long-term moral and material assistance to these women.”


LAILA LALAMI is a US-based Moroccan writer and author of Te Secret Son.


“No question in my mind about what needs to be done. Te international community can start by holding the leaders of the country


including the president accountable for what his army is doing. Women also need to fight this particular battle themselves in their own way, commensurate with their local culture. What do I mean? In some of these conflicts, the victims sometimes know the perpetrators. Tey should keep records, even oral documentation of these criminals and be active locally to someday bring them to justice. Te world should empower the women to stand up, along with their own men, to this evil – one person at a time. Where do we come in? By petitions, and yes sometimes targeted aid to put pressure on these ‘see no evil, do nothing’ governments. Te UN needs the ‘teeth’ to mean what they say.”


NGOZI ACHEBE is author of Onadoe’s Daughter.


“We owe it to our sisters to use our visibility and our voices to show our support... and denounce the crime and call the world’s attention to it so that it is stemmed”


“Tose who are committing violence against the women of the Congo do so because they do not think the rest of us can or will do anything to stop it.


Tey believe that we will hear the news and – overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of tragedies in the world, concerned with only what is happening in our own communities – ignore this degradation of women who are very much like our own mothers, sisters and daughters. Geographical distance doesn’t lessen our obligation to stand for what is just and right in this world. We have the ability to make the type of change that can accumulate and build momentum until slowly or suddenly, but surely, this stops. Take the first step, listen to their stories, read what is happening, reach out and ask what you can do.”


MAAZA MENGSITE was born in Ethiopia and is the author of Beneath the Lion’s Gaze.


“Women are the glue that holds society together during chaos and conflict, and we are reminded of their resilience and capacity for hope. In DRCongo over


5m lives have been lost and hundreds of thousands of women raped in a strategic campaign to destroy women, their families and communities. Yet, in the midst of this, Congolese women still tell us their visions of building bridges of peace in their own country as well as for their sisters in Africa and around the world. Te time has come for us to help echo the voices of the women of Congo as they break their silence; these issues do not only impact women in Africa. Women are the key to sustainable peace in Congo and globally.”


ZAINAB SALBI is CEO and Founder of Women for Women International.


WINTER 2011 | NEW AFRICAN WOMAN | 31


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