The DR Congo is crossed by the equator. Accordingly, the climate is warm and humid. Large parts of the country, especially the so-called Congo Basin, are covered by tropical rainforest. High mountain ranges border the basin to the east and south. Large deposits of sought-after mineral resources can be found here, especially in the east.

The population of Congo is one of the poorest in the world. A 2006 study by the Congolese government found that 76% of the population could not send their children to school, 79% were malnourished, 81% did not have adequate housing and 82% had no access to medical care. In 2018, the number of people suffering from hunger in the eastern provinces was estimated at five million.

In the east of the DR Congo lie the provinces of North and South Kivu, which have been most affected by the armed conflicts of the last 50 years. South Kivu borders Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganyika to the east, and thus Rwanda and Burundi. The central administration in Kinshasa has little influence; the province has its own administration for its approximately 6 million inhabitants.

In the repeatedly flaring up armed conflicts between the regular army and various rebel groups and armed gangs, human rights are hardly respected. Rape was and still is a weapon of war, and there are repeated reports of mass rapes.

INDIGENOUS WOMEN FOR HEALTH AND EQUALITY

is an independent, non-profit, non-political, non-denominational organization with no ethnic, racial or tribal affiliation, founded in 2020 in the South Kivu district by a group of indigenous women and girls to fight against their lack of empowerment and the gender inequalities they face in local and national communities.

In particular, supporting women who have been abandoned by their husbands after rape, rejected by their families and stigmatized by the village has become a core area of work for IWHE.

The founder and director of the organization is a young doctor who provides medical and psychological care, and with the help of microfinance under the KETAAKETI model, the women's self-confidence is strengthened and they are enabled to lead independent lives. The first three groups of 10 women each started here in September 2023.

"Together we will do a lot of good."

Dr. Esther Allenge