Special Projet Bangwe

Convenor : Colette Samoya (International Federation of University Women) Cosette Menzies (WYWCA)

Shocked by the bloody conflicts in the Great Lakes region of the African Continent and to mark solidarity with the most affected populations, the BANGWE project was created in Geneva in 1998.

Objective
The principal objectives of the project, presently supported by the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, Women from Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic republic of Congo, are:

• Joint actions by women to highlight ancestral practices of mediation and non-violence.
• Permanent contacts amongst women fighting to re-establish and promote peace.
• Support for women in their search for lasting solutions to conflicts and in the difficult task of bringing about national reconciliation.

Groups targeted:
All categories and groups of women, particularly young women and rural women of the countries concerned

Activities

• Organized conferences, seminars and training sessions on mediation and reconciliation techniques.
• Organized a sub-regional symposium in the three neighbour Great Lakes countries: Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic republic of Congo.
• Has published a newsletter on projects and actions aimed at peace-building.
• Offered opportunities for activist women, both from the field and from NGOs at UN Geneva, to express themselves during the annual Commission on Human Rights held in Geneva.

Next meeting :