As part of the activities commemorating the International Women's Day in Beni, North Kivu, the Women's Engagement Team (FET) of MONUSCO's Malawi Battalion (MALBATT) organized a meeting with women from rural communities in this area to discuss the role of women in building peace.

This meeting was mainly aimed at encouraging Congolese women to express themselves freely about their aspirations, but also to act as agents of change within their communities.

Stella, one of the participants, said she was more confident when she interacted with female blue helmets of the same sex with them.

“As women, we bear the brunt of war. And it is easier for us to discuss everything without taboos with female troops because they are more attentive and show concern for the situations we are enduring here,” she said.

“When conflict shows its ugly face, women and children fall prey to untold sexual exploitation and abuse. They also suffer from the sudden loss of their loved ones”, explained for her part Sergeant Irene Chirwa, the head of the Malawian FET.

That is the reason why, she said assuredly, her team has geared its actions towards protecting these vulnerable women.

This Day has helped step up collaboration between FET and these women who have been victims of the horrors of war for several years in the Eastern DRC.

The latter wanted to see this type of interactions increased in order to maintain a space for dialogue that would allow them not only to make their voices heard, but also to contribute to the peace process in their communities.

Confidence building

To give them more assurance, the Malawian blue helmets had visited these women, a few weeks earlier, in the locality of Maboya, a rural area 40 kilometers from the city of Beni.

For Sergeant Innocencia Nambuzi, a member of the Malawian FET, this first meeting helped gain the confidence of these women who finally opened up to blue helmets.

“It's easier for us to empathize with women at the grassroots level because as a woman you can easily tell what they're going through,” she said.

The Sergeant is confident that if this outreach initiative receives the necessary support, it will help the Mission achieve its mandate of including women and girls in the peace process.

The mission of the Malawi Women's Engagement Team is fully supported by the Commander of the MONUSCO Malawi Battalion in the DRC, Lt. Col. Philip Chitekwe.

The latter said she fully understand the essential role of the female blue helmets within the Mission, in particular that of restoring peace without necessarily resorting to firearms.

“The Malawi battalion has a considerable number of women, which helps us to understand the concerns of the rural women and achieve a lasting effect on the local population; thereby making the prospects for peace real,” she further said.

The Lt. Col. even pointed out that Malawi has deployed female troops to the DRC to make a difference in building peace and protecting the rights of women and girls.

Women’s contribution to peace

The presence of these female peacekeepers in this war-torn rural area is an illustration of the commendable role played by women in the restoration of peace. This role is supported by the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

In this resolution, the UN recognizes that women are the most affected by armed conflict, but they also play an important role in conflict resolution and peacemaking.

As a result, contingents in the DRC have set up teams of female troops to engage, at the local level, with women affected by the human rights violations committed by armed groups.

Furthermore, the Resolution 1325 urges governments to increase women’s participation in peacekeeping operations.

Malawi is one of the troop contributing countries in eastern DRC under the Force Intervention Brigade's mandate to neutralize armed groups and protect civilians.