Congo NOW members handover the petition to Lynne Featherstone MP. After 7,700 people emailed Lynne Featherstone asking her to prioritise sexual violence in the DRC, Congo NOW! met with the minister to discuss the campaign We had prepared a short video to describe the situation in DRC and to state clearly our 4 campaign asks. The video can be viewed here (video on sexual violence in DRC). To ensure Lynne watched the video in time for the meeting, hundreds of supporters Tweeted at her with the link, filling up her Twitter inbox with messages about DRC. Lynne watched the video and thought it was truly moving and came to the meeting with a will to help the women of DRC. During our meeting, which was doubled in time once Lynne watched the video, we discussed the programs in DRC that retrain soldiers and security forces, teaching them about women's rights. We discussed the need to educate society as a whole, to raise knowledge about women's rights and to reduce the stigma women often suffer after suffering rape. We also discussed the need for prosecution of offenders - the need to remove the impunity that rapists have in DRC. The Government of DRC has the legislation in place, now it needs to enforce it - even if it needs to prosecute senior figures in the security forces. And we also raised the serious need for investment in specialist medical facilities for rape survivors. There are only two specialist centres in the Kivus, an area the size of England. Rape survivors often have to choose whether to walk for days, along dangerous roads, in order to reach medical help. Lynne Featherstone has officially stated that she backs the need for prosecution and ending of impunity. She pointed to the recent conviction of Lt Col Kabibi as an indication of the DRC's intent to tackle this problem. A full statement from Lynne Featherstone can be found here (Response to sexual violence in DRC) In terms of the other asks, the Department for International Development (DfID) were also at the meeting and it is hoped that the new dialogue that exists between Congo NOW!, Lynne Featherstone and DfID will allow for these ongoing problems to be addressed by the UK Government. The UK Government is the largest single donor to the DRC. It will spend an average of £198 million per year in Democratic Republic of Congo until 2015. Through our ongoing dialogue with UK ministers, we aim to see that this money is spent where it's needed most |