No Empowerment with Single Gender in Rural DR Congo.

“All over the world, there is no sustainable development process in any community if the whole process remains discriminatory. Empowerment is unfair and non-beneficial to a community only in case it involves, either men or women only. Both genders need to unite heads and brains to achieve more, and in a satisfactory way. Two ants can easily lift a cricket. Nothing sustainable can be achieved with mono-gender. This fits an African adage that says that a single finger can never crush a louse.”, Mugisho states.

A community that needs solid empowerment should build on ideas and work done by both genders. Involving women alone, or men alone can reach something but not really satisfactory. Women need to feel they are contributing in their way to the development of their families, communities and the nation. This is how we can create empowerment towards gender equality.

In this context, Congolese Females Action for Promoting Rights and Development COFAPRI www.cofapri.org thinks it is crucial to involve men as important partners in order to achieve more female empowerment in the rural villages of the DR Congo. It is a good thing that women engage men and men do the same if we want lives to change, have equal access to opportunities, and improve women’s prospects.

It remains very important for communities if men and boys are educated on how to treat women and children, regarding rights. This can only move toward remarkable and successful change of social attitudes and gender roles in communities, which can possibly lead to development. Building on this thought, it becomes therefore decisive to note that if the women and the girls of a given community become empowered, it is the whole community that benefits; men and boys, women and girls will enjoy. This will only happen if men and women are joining hands in every aspect of life. This is thus positive change; change of mind-sets and change of behavior as both men and boys are engaged to support women and girls.

The relationship and structures of the community are now changing in order to shape the lives of women and girls, as well as those of men and boys in different villages, the whole community and so there can be great change at national level. If such development can be achieved, with the support of some men and boys who well understand the role of empowering women and girls in our villages, then this is greater empowerment. This is also empowerment for better lives in the future, empowerment for community full development. In this way, women and girls will get hold and resistance against patriarchal rules and system that dehumanize women and girls, reducing them to objects or almost useless things.

Such patriarchal social norms created and protected by men make men and boys resort to violence in an attempt to regain control of women and girls in families and in communities. In order to try to avert this situation, COFAPRI has been seeking preventive ways to deal with it in rural villages of the DR Congo. In this perspective, preventive activities have been sought, and both genders have been involved; men and women and boys and girls involved in preventive methods of addressing inadvertent costs of empowerment struggles.

From the time when COFAPRI has been working on this issue, it has been noticed great change in villages of the DR Congo. This confirms how education is very useful and needed for community development. Since one can easily notice the growing attention of men and women towards addressing gender challenges, as we have been discussing here above, the conclusion becomes clear: sustainable empowerment and development need both genders to unite heads and arms for the common cause. During graduation of our laureates, Traditional Local Leader, Mr Cishugi gave this remark:

• "There will be no empowerment in our villages around here if you, women are not educated. No future for you, if you do not consult your husbands for taking decisions. So you women and you girls here need development, and this is what COFAPRI is helping you to do. We give our full support to this great effort. COFAPRI has made a way for you. It is a long way. Now up to you to walk from where you have been brought. On this date, we all witness COFAPRI women and men working together. In their meetings and in their daily activities at their center both genders are present. This is helping to teach our children how we need to work hand in hand, not only for family and villages development, but also for community and the nation. If all local organisations based in our villages here Congo could take after COFAPRI steps, things would have changed drastically countrywide. We believe this a good start with COFAPRI; they have not totally succeeded as they have planned, but the way things are going gives hope for betterment. We do support you in all your efforts here in our area. Thank you! "

COFAPRI insists that in order for rural women and girls, as well as men and boys to be empowered equally for family and community welfare and development, a lot of efforts are still needed to be summoned. These endeavors would include among others deep focus on women and girls’ empowerment, a strong development of sensitization crusades of both genders in villages and well-designed programs that deal with gender development in villages. These programs would not neglect issues related the rights of women and girls, at national and international level. Focus would also be put on how these rights can be helpful in cementing families and communities in rural villages, and finally look at the necessity of taking decisions together in families and in communities in order to reach a broader and successful goal. importance of joint decision making in the family. This would also require that men and boys get appropriate information and training on ways that help them see the necessity of finding solutions to women and girls’ problems related to discrimination and underdevelopment in communities. This would not exclude discussing about the rights of men and those of women in order to walk on the same pace.

For our villages to develop, men and boys need to change their behaviors and attitudes toward women and girls. This proves necessary since in most cases viciousness against women and girls in rural villages of Congo happen inside families. If there are no women and girls’ rights respect in homes, violence will always be their way of life, which will cause family underdevelopment. Admiration of family members’ rights must be discussed by family members, and be instated and protected in the home by the man who is the head of the family. Mr Mushagalusa Ezechiel (in charge of Education and Training at COFAPRI) stipulates: "

• "In our villages we have to empower our mothers and sisters; wives and daughters. Men alone cannot go nowhere. See our families, where women are the only ones who go to farm. They are not really developed. We have to think on ways gender can be valued. In this way, we need a perspective of gender that opens a process of weighing the inferences for women and men of any planned action in family, and in community. This is a good way that can surely consider the concerns, experiences and decisions of women as well as of men a vital portion of the family and community. This infers that there will be a fair consideration of ideas, work, contribution so that both genders in each family and community gain of the development and empowerment. This can scale down family and community inequality between men and women in families".

Families, community and the nation of the DR Congo will expand only if women and girls are being valued at family and community level. To do this, men need to set inclusive family norms. These rules have to foster women and girls’ rights at the level of the family, opening place for discussion for both father and mother, on the one hand and sons and daughters on the other side. This will help better work in harmony and so reach empowerment and development.