REQUEST FOR INCREASED ENGAGEMENT ON EFFORTS TO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 KINSHASA 000615 SENSITIVE SIPDIS USAID FOR DCHA/DG, DCHA/OFDA, GH/PRH, AFR/DP, AFR/SD, AA/AFR, AFR/EA, and AFR/SD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL KJUS KWMN KOCI AF CG SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR INCREASED ENGAGEMENT ON EFFORTS TO CURB GENDER BASED VIOLENCE REF: A. STATE 64939; ¶B. KINSHASA 546 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Although a strategy to combat sexual violence in the DRC has been created, the GDRC has yet to implement it due to its extremely low level of capacity. The USG helps fund activities to fight sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) in North Kivu, South Kivu, Orientale, Maniema, and Katanga provinces. The effectiveness of programs to combat SGBV is limited due to the challenging logistical, institutional and cultural environment in the DRC. Justice for SGBV crimes is very low as the majority cases are never brought to trial. Through its DIILS program, the USG is helping to equip military judges to hold members of the armed forces accountable for SGBV. Women's empowerment centers exist and are supported by USAID in Maniema and Ituri District. MONUC's Conduct and Discipline Unit directly trained 3,620 peacekeepers in 2008 on its zero tolerance policy regarding SGBV, with a total of 31,097 receiving training through coordinated initiatives with MONUC partners. Even though MONUC peacekeepers have no powers of arrest, they do have the power to detain and transfer perpetrators to the Congolese authorities. The GDRC has not been active in engaging community leaders or responding at the community level to SGBV. Post has taken an active role in the international donors' Thematic Sub-Group on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, which seeks to promote more effective coordination by bringing together the range of SGBV actors and stakeholders, particularly the Ministry of Gender, Family, and Children. Efforts of greater concern and value need to include a generational approach to changing the attitudes of the DRC population to better understand the value and roles of women in society. It is clear, however, that SGBV will stop only when perpetrators are actually held accountable for their violent crimes. End summary. ¶2. Note: Responses to the questions found in paragraph 4 of ref A can be found as follows: the answer to 4a. is at paragraphs 3-4; answer to 4b. is at paragraphs 5-14; answer to 4c. is at paragraphs 15-22; answer to 4d. is at paragraphs 23-24; answer to 4e. is at paragraph 25; answer to 4f. is at paragraphs 26-27; answer to 4g. is at paragraph 28; and answer to 4h. is at paragraphs 29-32. End note. GDRC Efforts to Curb SGBV -------------- ¶3. (U) SGBV is endemic throughout the DRC and has been further exacerbated by armed conflict in the eastern and northeastern parts of the country. The capacity of the GRDC to combat SGBV is extremely low. However, MONUC and the Ministry of Gender jointly announced April 1 the release of a comprehensive strategy to combat sexual violence in the DRC. It is a four-part strategy that targets the fight against impunity, prevention and protection, security sector reform, and victim assistance. The strategy has yet to be implemented due to a lack of resources and lack of capacity in the GDRC. MONUC, UNHCR, and UNFPA have been tasked to help implement the strategy and to help build capacity in the GDRC. ¶4. (U) Congolese military courts have in the last few months convicted both Congolese army (FARDC) soldiers and Mai Mai rebels of rape in a couple of high profile trials (See ref b). The successful prosecutions are laudable; however they were made possible thanks entirely to constant and direct logistical and technical assistance from MONUC. In one of the trials, the military prosecutors received previous training through the USG-funded Defense Institute of International Legal Studies (DIILS). USG and Other Donor Programs -------------- ¶5. (U) USAID/DRC implements programs in North and South Kivu, the special district of Ituri in Orientale Province, and Maniema Province through cooperative agreements to international NGOs that provide capacity-building to local NGOs and community-based organizations. Local organizations then identify and deliver services to rape and abuse survivors. USAID also assists hospitals to provide fistula repair services. USAID programs provide care and treatment services for SGBV survivors, including access to medical care, counseling and family mediation, and social and economic reintegration support. Community awareness activities educate and mobilize local communities, including traditional leaders and women's groups, to promote women's rights, acceptance of rape survivors, and protection of the whole community. USAID implementing partners consult on a regular basis with local KINSHASA 00000615 002 OF 007 authorities and activities promote awareness of SGBV among community leaders and other officials. ¶6. (U) In late FY 2009, USAID intends to award a new, $7 million, three-year program to prevent and respond to SGBV in North and South Kivu provinces in the DRC. This program, which is expected to reach well over 10,000 survivors, emphasizes partnerships with national and local NGOs, community-based organizations (CBOs),and government institutions to provide services in an effort to increase and improve organizational and community capacity to respond effectively to SGBV and to facilitate the physical, psychological, and economic recovery of survivors. Planned activities also include interventions that empower women to participate in community activities that promote women's ownership of local initiatives, particularly economic strengthening activities. ¶7. (U) USAID Democracy and Governance programs seek to fight impunity through legal reforms, advocacy, and legal services to survivors, including promotion of rights and access to mobile courts and legal aid clinics. ¶8. (U) Projects funded through USAID/DRC's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance include emergency health projects in North Kivu that integrate medical services for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and SGBV survivors in North Kivu province ¶9. (U) State Department funded programs via the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL),and the Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM),have also helped the USG to take an active role in addressing SGBV in the DRC. DRL supported projects promoted human rights, provided legal services to SGBV survivors, and helped build the capacity of local NGOs, justice sector and law enforcement personnel, and the media. PRM funded activities are currently providing counseling support and medical care to returning refugees, many of whom are survivors of GBV, in Katanga and South Kivu Provinces. In addition, PRM's contribution to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) helps in part to fund activities that address SGBV in North and South Kivu. ICRC officials engage with armed actors regarding SGBV issues, provide psycho-social training to local NGOs, and provide victim assistance through 38 temporary shelters ("maisons d'ecoute") in North and South Kivu. Post's Public Diplomacy section has also sponsored a series of SGBV workshops and music recordings. ¶10. (U) Since 2004, international donors have supported a combined initiative to respond to Gender-Based Violence in the DRC. The Joint Initiative against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence includes representatives of the DRC Government, NGOs and United Nations organizations. The UN Fund for Population (UNFPA) is the lead United Nations (UN) agency, with UNICEF and the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) as "executing agencies." Funding is provided by Belgium, Canada, UNFPA and the UN Development Program (UNDP). Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, and Germany contribute to NGOs that are part of the Joint Initiative. The program has four components: medical and health care, psycho-social support and economic reintegration, legal assistance, and security and protection. ¶11. (SBU) The Joint Initiative also advocates for inclusion of SGBV prevention in the political agenda of the country. The Initiative works with the Congolese Ministries of Gender, Justice, Defense, and Interior, through training and information-sharing sessions for the police and the military. UNFPA is charged with both a coordination role and a project management role. Coordinating mechanisms exist at the national level and in the provinces. Belgium has provided support to the Joint Initiative for SGBV response and prevention programs in Equateur, Orientale, and Maniema. Canada has supported the Joint Initiative in North and South Kivu. UNFPA, UNICEF, and UNJHRO support local partners who provide services to survivors. Funding is slated to end this year; it is unclear whether Belgium and Canada, the two main donors, will continue to support this initiative. The government of the Netherlands has also contributed $11 million to support programs to prevent and respond to SGBV in Maniema and South Kivu provinces. Effectiveness of Programs -------------- ¶12. (SBU) USAID programs providing support to SGBV survivors have resulted in more than 100,000 survivors receiving critical care and treatment services. USAID's model is one of a holistic package of services, with built-in referral systems to ensure that an identified survivor has access to appropriate available services. KINSHASA 00000615 003 OF 007 These care and treatment programs have been effective at reaching survivors where no care was previously available. Longer term prevention efforts, including attacking impunity through judicial and security sector reforms have not yet proven to be effective. The network of service providers has been successful to the extent that providers and local NGOs can co-locate services. Training community counselors to identify, refer, and provide case management to survivors has been another successful intervention. ¶13. (SBU) Programmatic challenges in the field include: (1) continued lack of understanding and stigma around SGBV in local communities, resulting in poor acceptance of SGBV and a fear to come forward for care, treatment, and support; (2) the lack of medical facilities equipped with materials and trained personnel to treat SGBV survivors, particularly in remote areas; (3) the need for closer and longer term follow up and case management of survivors, particularly mental health care and economic assistance, once they have received care and treatment services; (4) the lack of a functioning judicial system causes fear of extra-judicial reprisals among survivors, which makes bringing legal cases forward problematic; (5) the need for standardization of care and treatment procedures in emergency settings; (6) populations that are difficult to access due to lack of infrastructure and insecurity; (7) the limited number of survivors who reach services (or are willing to come forward for treatment) within 72 hours, to be eligible to receive Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) kits. ¶14. (SBU) In terms of improving programs to respond to SGBV and facilitate the recovery of survivors, some interventions that would make programs more effective include the following: -- (1) Evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and retooling current interventions, particularly in the area of counseling and psychological assistance, to ensure the programs are supporting survivors in the most effective way to recover from their trauma; -- (2) Continue to refine the network and referral system of providers to ensure that services are accessible to the most remote populations, with an eye on bringing specialized medical and psychological services closer to survivors, to reduce the physical and financial burden of travelling to existing facilities; -- (3) Implement communications strategies to try to address underlying root causes of violence, at the community level and to bring about a public dialogue nationally on SGBV-for example, engaging political leadership to publicly denounce SGBV and take action against perpetrators; -- (4) Ensure better physical protection and survivor support setting in emergency settings, particularly IDP camps; -- (5) Continue to strengthen the legal system; -- (6) Create a more sustainable intervention to assist in the socio-economic recovery of survivors, through viable income generating activities, self-help groups, and women's empowerment activities. Justice for SGBV Crimes -------------- ¶15. (SBU) The percent of perpetrators of SGBV brought to justice is minimal. To the extent that statistics exist, they are fragmentary and collected by several UN agencies. To date, a central database to record instances of SGBV has yet to be created. Although there have been recent prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing of government soldiers and illegal armed group members in SGBV cases, these proceedings represent a small percentage of the incidents of GBV. ¶16. (SBU) The 2007 Demographic Health Survey (DHS) points to alarming data about rape and sexual violence in the DRC. The DHS reported that nearly 75 percent of women throughout the country have suffered from spousal or partner abuse, whether physical, emotional, or sexual. Nearly two-thirds of women reported suffering from physical violence since age 15, and nearly half of women suffered violence during the past 12 months, with married women reporting higher levels of violence. Sixteen percent of women have been forced to have intercourse against their will at some point in their lives. The legal system provides little protection to women who experience such violence, and support networks or advocacy organizations to address this fundamental gender inequality are KINSHASA 00000615 004 OF 007 minimal at best. This perceived gender inequity and the related violence against girls and women provides a backdrop for the persistence of different forms of SGBV in the DRC. ¶17. (SBU) The human and material capacity of the DRC civilian and military justice system is almost nonexistent, and those facilities and personnel that do operate are in need of repair, retraining, and additional financial resources. Years of administrative and budgetary neglect have resulted in a system based on non-official payments for the provision of judicial services. ¶18. (SBU) International community and USG efforts to build awareness within the DRC government to the seriousness of the SGBV problem are undertaken primarily within the context of security sector reform coordination. The involvement of the national security services, primarily the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC),but including the national police (PNC) and other agencies as well, in incidents of SGBV is well documented. There is a strong need to create a unified, professional army to protect the territorial integrity of the DRC from internal and external threats. However, the will and capacity of the international community to support and work alongside the DRC security services is compromised due to recurrent SGBV being perpetrated by the GDRC's own forces. ¶19. (SBU) In 2006, USAID supported efforts to draft and pass the seminal Law Against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, enabling the judiciary to prosecute these cases. The new law raised the age of consent to 18 and outlined specific punishments for varying levels of SGBV for perpetrators. To date, a limited number of cases has been brought to court; the majority of these cases have been treated in military courts as they involve either military personnel or were perpetrated with a weapon. Cases in South Kivu that have been tried through the civilian court system have mainly involved child survivors, while those in the military courts have involved women survivors. The main constraint continues to be cultural perceptions around gender equality and attitudes toward SGBV. For example, women are unable to appear in court without the consent of a male head of household, and the legal age of marriage, 14, is below the age of consent to sexual relations. In addition, the stigma associated with rape has resulted in shame and humiliation among women and men alike, making men unwilling and ashamed to address this issue publicly. Most cases of SGBV, if reported to the authorities at all, are settled between individuals by traditional chiefs, outside of the formal legal and law enforcement system. ¶20. (SBU) USG-funded programs support the strengthening of both the military and civilian judicial systems. USAID Democracy and Governance programs seek to fight impunity through judicial strengthening activities, legal reforms, advocacy, and legal services to SGBV survivors, including promotion of rights and access to mobile courts. Since April 2008, USAID has been supporting the NGO Global Rights to promote the Law against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and to continue advocacy for justice reforms through capacity building to local human rights NGOs. The program implements activities at the local level in South Kivu to gain more understanding of community knowledge, attitudes, and practice around SGBV. USAID has also supported immediate access to legal services for disadvantaged populations, including SGBV survivors, previously through mobile courts. Current USAID funding includes support for legal aid clinics, bar associations and local community leaders to monitor court proceedings in remote areas of Equateur, Maniema, and South Kivu provinces. ¶21. (U) USAID's new, $20 million, five-year, rule of law program focuses on longer term institutional and human capacity building, while still providing much needed immediate access to judicial services. This program, awarded in late FY 2008, is supporting the establishment of new judicial institutions, strengthening management skills among magistrates and judicial personnel, improving the transparency, accessibility and effectiveness of court operations in pilot jurisdictions, with an eye on increasing access to justice. ¶22. (U) The USG-funded military justice program targets the technical aspects of sex crimes investigation, and has recently expanded to provide command responsibility training, including prevention of SGBV, in training modules. Six FARDC personnel who received USG-funded training recently participated in a military tribunal that tried and sentenced five irregular militia members to prison sentences and fines for acts of GBV. The technical expertise these individuals bring to legal proceedings is effective in raising the professional standards of the trials as a punitive measure for KINSHASA 00000615 005 OF 007 SGBV. However, the effectiveness of the technical, legal contributions of these personnel in this and future cases as a preventative measure is much more difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain at the present time. Making the FARDC aware of SGBV -------------- ¶23. (SBU) USG efforts to create awareness of SGBV within the FARDC include DIILS' programs on human rights and sex crimes. DIILS instructors provide three to four days of training for FARDC students attending the PKO funded Cadres en Formation Continue (FCC) and will provide an expanded version of that training to the Force Rapid Reaction (RRF) battalion, now in their second week of training. Additional activities will include the use of NGOs that focus on GBV and related issues in our training activities at Kisangani. Each USG-GDRC military-to-military engagement will include language that stresses proper soldier behavior toward non-combatants. ¶24. (SBU) Through AFRICOM's Civil Affairs department, Embassy Kinshasa's Office of Security Cooperation (OSC) has requested long-term engagement (up to 24 months) using Medical Capacity (MEDCap) building teams to execute contact missions throughout the DRC to identify survivors of GBV and begin the medical and mental health treatment process. Ideally these teams would provide initial contact with survivors of SGBV, triage, prioritize, and identify survivors for more intensive care only available at regional treatment facilities. These MEDCap teams would consist of physician practitioners with specialties in OB/GYN, mental health, and other necessary skills. They would be able to provide initial treatment and recommend for further care. While DoD can execute the MEDCap, these elements cannot/cannot onward move identified survivors to treatment centers. Other agencies need to be coordinated into this effort to provide movement and treatment at regional medical centers. Women's Empowerment -------------- ¶25. (SBU) Women's empowerment centers exist and are supported by USAID in Maniema and Ituri District. Care centers, or "listening houses" ("maisons d'ecoute") are supported by different actors, particularly in the emergency settings of North and South Kivu. Education of girls is being promoted through USAID education programs and through the Basic Education in Eastern DRC project, which provides emergency education in vulnerable, displaced, and returnee populations. USAID emergency health programs all have components to treat SGBV survivors. These programs are supported by international NGOs and UN agencies, with little support from or participation by the Government of the DRC. Protection, as well as care and treatment for SGBV survivors, is woven into USAID and other donor-supported humanitarian assistance programs, but the current capacity level of the GDRC does not permit its full engagement in the protection and care for these vulnerable populations. MONUC Works with Troop-Contributing Countries -------------- ¶26. (SBU) MONUC's Conduct and Discipline Unit (CDU) directly trained 3,620 peacekeepers in 2008, with a total of 31,097 receiving training through coordinated initiatives with MONUC partners. The CDU regularly makes visits to the field to conduct assessments. The MONUC SEA Focal Point network continues to assist the CDU and senior management in training. In summer 2008 the SRSG established a Conduct and Discipline Advisory Committee, comprising a multi-division effort, to reinforce MONUC's commitment to fight sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA). MONUC's SGBV Rules of Engagement -------------- ¶27. (U) In accordance with its current UNSC mandate for protection of civilians, MONUC peacekeepers are charged with helping to prevent and respond to cases of sexual violence. However, MONUC has no powers of arrest. It does, however, have the power to detain and transfer perpetrators to the Congolese authorities. MONUC is authorized to use all force necessary to protect all civilians who are being physically threatened or who are in imminent danger. MONUC peacekeepers also have a role of deterrence through joint security patrols and training with the Congolese military and police (FARDC and PNC respectively). MONUC defers to the FARDC and PNC for KINSHASA 00000615 006 OF 007 formal arrest procedures. Awareness Campaigns Targeting Male Leaders -------------- ¶28. (U) The GDRC has not been active in engaging community leaders or responding to SGBV at the community level; in certain regions there is no state presence or authority at all. However, USAID/DRC programs include interventions that promote discussion about the collective and individual impact of SGBV and a sense of responsibility to protect individuals, at the community level. New programs are giving particular attention to the mobilization of men, religious, and community leaders to speak out against SGBV, with specific communications strategies that encourage boys and men to question and change social expectations and gender roles around male behavior with respect to sexuality, violence, and dominance. Donor Coordination -------------- ¶29. (SBU) Post has taken an active role in the Thematic Sub-Group on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, which seeks to raise awareness within the Government of the DRC (GDRC) and donor community through advocacy activities and promote more effective coordination by bringing together the range of SGBV actors and stakeholders, particularly the Ministry of Gender, Family, and Children. This Thematic Group brings together UN agencies that are administering and implementing the Joint Initiative, civil society, bilateral and multilateral donors, and the host government. ¶30. (U) In 2009, the United Nations released the "Comprehensive Strategy on Combating Sexual Violence in the DRC," a document developed in consultation with relevant UN agencies, international NGOs, and GDRC counterparts, such as the Ministries of Justice, Defense, Interior, Gender and Health. The aim of the strategy is to create a common framework and platform for action for all those involved in combating sexual violence in DRC in line with successive United Nations Security Council resolutions. The Ministry of Gender, Family, and Children has been closely involved with the UN's effort to develop a strategy and has adopted it as a national strategy. ¶31. (U) The Joint Initiative on Sexual Violence in the DRC provides support to the GDRC, in particular the Ministry of Gender, Family, and Children, to increase capacity to advocate for and coordinate prevention and response efforts. ¶32. (SBU) Although these mechanisms exist to coordinate GBV strategic direction and interventions in the DRC, across the range of many actors at the national level and in the field, coordination among donors and implementers is often perceived as challenging and poorly executed. The problem seems especially acute in North and South Kivu, according to UNFPA and implementing partners, especially in the most insecure and emergency contexts. At the national level, donor-government coordination has been somewhat improved over the last year by the creation of the Thematic Group. ¶33. (SBU) Comment: Future anti-SGBV efforts of greater concern and value should include a generational approach to changing the attitudes of the DRC population to better understand the value and roles of women in society. Without addressing this fundamental cultural discrepancy, women will continue to be viewed as property. The issue also must be addressed in the educational system of the country and will require decades to change individual and community behavior in this society. ¶34. (SBU) Comment continued: The requirements to respond effectively and to prevent SGBV in the DRC are seemingly endless. This problem is not only acute in the insecure and conflict-ridden provinces of eastern Congo; it is prevalent country wide. Strategically, however, the USG has focused its resources over the years in addressing the SGBV epidemic in eastern DRC, in an effort to respond to a crisis situation and to demonstrate USG action in the areas that are most covered by the international media. Additional resources to address SGBV in the DRC are welcomed; with $10 million per year, programs to treat survivors can be sustained and expanded, and longer term prevention efforts can be initiated. ¶35. (SBU) Comment continued: It is clear, however, that SGBV will stop only when perpetrators are actually held accountable for their violent crimes. Ending conflict in eastern DRC will not put a stop to SGBV in the country. In fact, in more stable areas, statistics KINSHASA 00000615 007 OF 007 point to a rise in the number of rapes and assaults committed by civilians rather than by armed groups. ¶36. (SBU) The USG may want to use as leverage the increase or reduction of financial aid to the DRC when discussing SGBV with host-country officials. At the present time it is unclear whether there is political will within the GDRC to seriously address and combat SGBV. End comment. BROCK