WHAT DID THE BISHOP SAY TO THE ACTRESS, THE BUSINESSWOMAN, THE TV PRESENTER, THE BARONESS, THE PR AND THE AUTHOR?
A new coalition of high profile women celebrities, business women and politicians came together with senior clergy from the Church of England and other multi-faith leaders at the Albert Hall on 19th November, 2009 to protest against the horrific sexual violence regularly taking place to women and girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It was exactly one hundred years since The Great Congo Protest was held at the Albert Hall, when leading Church of England Bishops headed by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Randall Thomas Davidson, drew attention to the exploitation and destruction of people and environment in the Congo.
The new coalition agreed to work together to protest against continuing violence in the region including the estimated 500,000 women and girls to have been raped and mutilated more recently during the last twelve years of conflicts and war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams supported the event and representatives of his office were present at the Albert Hall, together with the Bishops of Winchester and London.
Politicians across parties were present together with high-profile women celebrities from the worlds of business and entertainment including singer/actress Michelle Gayle; actress Rula Lenska; presenter/comedian Sandi Toksvig; Ruby Wax; author Kathy Lette; Eve Ensler, playwright/activist and founder of V-Day, the hosting charity and PR/Businesswoman Lynne Franks plus Congolese representatives from the British community.
Schedule:
9.30 - 10.15am
Speakers included:
Lynne Franks, Chair of V-Day UK; Eve Ensler, Playwright and Founder of V-Day;
Christine Deschryver, Director of City of Joy, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo;
The Bishop of Winchester, the Right Reverend Michael Scott-Joynt;
Reverend Rachel Carnegie, Archbishop of Canterbury’s Secretary for International Development; Eric Joyce, MP, Chair of the All Parties Parliamentary Group for the Great Lakes Region of Africa,
introduced by Sandi Toksvig
Visit www.vday.org
