Nothing Without Women (''Rien sans les Femmes'') is a feminist organization established in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2015.
Nothing Without Women was formed in March 2015 as a coalition of international NGOs and local women's groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The group had two aims: to ensure that the
Parity Act was passed into law, and to revise electoral law to ensure that women candidates must be included on all electoral lists. The group collected over 200,000 signatures. It organized marches in
Bukavu and
Uvira in
South Kivu
South Kivu (''Jimbo la Kivu Kusini'' in Swahili), (french: Sud-Kivu) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Its capital is Bukavu.
History
South Kivu Province was created from Sud-Kivu District in 1989, when the exis ...
, and
Goma in
North Kivu. Over 6,000 people joined the march in Bukavu. As a result, the Parity Act was successfully passed in August 2015.
By 2017 Nothing Without Women had grown to incorporate over 160 women's rights organisations from across the country. Group campaigns were easily recognizable by their use of vividly coloured patterned cloth, worn as headscarves, dresses, skirts or bags.
In August 2018 the group's spokesperson
Solange Lwashiga Furaha
Solange Lwashiga Furaha is a human and women's rights activist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the executive secretary of the South Kivu Congolese Women's Caucus for Peace (Caucus des Femmes Congolaises du Sud-Kivu pour la Paix).
E ...
expressed concern that only 12% of candidates for the
2018 general election were women:
References
Further reading
*
External links
* {{official website, https://riensanslesfemmes.org/
2015 establishments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Feminist organisations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Organizations established in 2015