BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Cojeski DRC - ECPv6.16.3//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://cojeskidrcongo.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Cojeski DRC
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:UTC
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:UTC
DTSTART:20240101T000000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260510T080000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260510T170000
DTSTAMP:20260621T131730
CREATED:20260510T091505Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260510T091541Z
UID:26679-1778400000-1778432400@cojeskidrcongo.org
SUMMARY:Campaign to mitigate Myths around refugees in DRCongo
DESCRIPTION:Great popular support to our Campaign for Solitary towards refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo  \nWith one objective: To mitigate the presence of refugees and mobilize the host communities to participate in the refugee protection. \n \nBackground information  \nNot much is spoken about refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo yet they do exist\, it is rare for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Congolese National Commissioner for Refugees to avail information to the public about refugees in DRC. Actually actors within the refugee regime claim that refugee issue in DRC is sensitive\, okay what makes it sensitive and can we address it? Until when should it be left sensitive? And should we leave it like that and how does it help refugees? Others claim that refugee issues in DRC is complex\, then what? Can we make it easier for other people to understand? How does this complexity contribute to the protection of refugees? Can ignorant local and host communities protect refugees? \nBasing on that background we strongly believe that refugee protection is based on a strong and well informed host community where the very first protection of refugees is rooted. That is why we are engaging the entire population to know more about refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo\, what is expected from the host communities in order to advance refugee protection and create better opportunities for refugees. \nThe first week of our social media campaign in DRCongo  \nToday is the first week of our Campaign we launched on Social Media in order to engage Congolese and other people of good will about refugees in DRC. We are making posters and then share them on social media at least one each day. The intention is to help our audience to know more about refugees and then give their views. \nWhile our Campaign has gained support\, positive reactions and provoked discussions in various WhatsApp groups\, we have also received messages threatening us and Congolese asking us questions what about Internally Displaced Persons\, in some groups some people has called us “Rwandans” especially when we spoke for the protection of Rwandan refugees. These are anyway mere messages. The phone numbers of people who have been negative are generally those from Rwanda. \nWe want to now to continue the Campaign  \nWe planned to have this campaign just for one week and should involve few people who should share their messages\, but we have been over whelmed by many requests from Congolese who have sent us their messages in solidarity with refugees and their Photos in order to publish them. So this Campaign will continue until all messages are done. \nThis is alone is a clear sign that the allegations which have been fabricated over the years that Congolese people are hostile against refugees are wrong and not accurate. This alone brings down the arguments that refugees should remain anonymous in DRC because the host communities may attack them. Now we should continue to empower the communities to improve the protection of refugees where they live together through activities such peace\, conflict resolution and pacific cohabitation between refugees and host communities. \nMeeting with a delegation of Rwandan Refugees  \n \nAs a result of this Campaign\, on Saturday May 9th\, 2026 a Delegation of Rwandan refugees visited our offices in Kinshasa in order to exchange on issues their facing. They welcomed our campaign and thanked us for raising up the situation of refugees and urged us to continue the good work\, and claimed that they are now convinced that they have allies in the Democratic Republic of Congo. \nThey also indicated to us how they live in anonymous and in secrete because they fear the regime of Rwanda may come to kill them and also fear the host communities in which they are living that they may attack Rwandan refugees because of the current war between DRC and Rwanda. This one said “The problem is that local population may not know who is a Rwandan refugees and who is a spy from Rwanda\, they call of us Rwandans and in that way there are risks to be attacked by the local population here in Kinshasa”. \nThis other one also said “my wife is a Congolese but she does not know that I’m a refugee from Rwanda\, I have lived in my area for 13 years now but no one knows that I’m a Rwandan refugee and I do not want them to know because they can attack me”. \nThis woman indicated to us “Now the challenge of hiding also is becoming a problem\, we have children who ask us questions\, we changed their names and gave them Congolese names so that others may not know they are Rwandans but now they ask questions: Where is our village? Who are our Grand-Parents and all other relatives\, can we go and visit them?” \nThen this other one also said “you see here in DRC the refugee status has no value\, there is no reason why Rwandan refugees should yearn for it\, because there are not protection measures attached to it. Actually in most cases UNHCR officers have participated in forced repatriations of Rwandan refugees\, these staffs have provided information to Rwanda about refugees\, and some among these UNHCR staffs are actually Rwandans who are used as spies”. \nIn our reactions we intended to argue and shared with them the reality that it may be difficult for Rwanda to come to Kinshasa\, pick a refugee and send him or her to Kigali\, and encouraged actually to share information with us and the government authorities about people they think are spies from Rwanda\, in the same way share information about people they think are at risk. We shared with them how a strong community bondage can help in the protection of refugees and this what we should promote. The fear they have about local population is based on their worst experience in 1998 when again Rwanda backed rebels attacked the Capital Kinshasa\, which we may not base on now\, and gain this happened because the host communities were not educated so much about the difference between refugees and Rwandan Migrants or Spies. We all agreed that host communities have no clear information about refugees and should be part of our focus. \nWhile we may not be certain if people within UNHCR and CNR who are perceived as Rwandans are Spies\, we are so much preoccupied about the selection of people who are working in these institutions who may raise issues of neutrality and trust\, and we are also preoccupied about the position of these institutions towards refugees’ especially Rwandan refugees.  UNHCR and CNR in DRC are not institutions refugees feel free to go towards but to run away\, this fades the whole mandate of protection. \nOfficial reactions  \nWe have not yet received any official reactions to this Campaign and it is not design for official purpose\, however some Actors of the Civil Society have shown their support. In the same way the Campaign has not yet attracted the mainstream media but again more activities focusing on the media will be organized. \nConclusion \nLet us help the host communities to get information about refugees and hold the host community responsible for refugee protection rather than hiding them about the presence of refugees in their communities. Let us help refugees to feel free so that they can explore their potential rather than living in fear\, pretense and hiding. \nPlease join us and let us do this together with you. \nThanks \n  \n 
URL:https://cojeskidrcongo.org/event/campaign-to-mitigate-myths-around-refugees-in-drcongo/
CATEGORIES:Campaigns,Conference,Letters,Meetings,Petitions,Trainings,Urgent Action,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cojeskidrcongo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Theo.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260507T080000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260507T170000
DTSTAMP:20260621T131730
CREATED:20260507T102102Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260507T102336Z
UID:26635-1778140800-1778173200@cojeskidrcongo.org
SUMMARY:Promoting the protection of refugees in DRC in line the world refugee day June 20th
DESCRIPTION:CAMPAIGNS FOR THE PROTECTION OF REFUGEES IN DRCONGO \nCalling upon all actors to stop perceiving and claiming that Rwandan Refugees in DRC are FDLR armed against Rwanda. The few in Militia Groups who have guns are fighting for the protection of fellow refugees who are always attacked by Rwanda in the absence of the Congolese Army and the United Nations Forces. Protect refugees and they will not have guns. \n \nSOLIDARITY WITH REFUGEES IS NOT A CHOICE BUT A MUST \nThis is what Germain Mirhonyi had to said and encouraged people to show acts of solidarity with refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo. \n \n3Million Refugees unknown in the Democratic Republic of Congo \nMore than 30 Million refugees have no protection of the state in DRC\, they are not identified and have no specific place of residence. \n \nWE SHOULD PROMOTE RESETTLEMENT FOR REFUGEES IN DRCONGO  \n \n 
URL:https://cojeskidrcongo.org/event/promoting-the-protection-of-refugees-in-drc-in-line-the-world-refugee-day-june-20th/
CATEGORIES:Campaigns,Conference,Letters,Meetings,Petitions,Trainings,Urgent Action,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cojeskidrcongo.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/IMG-20260504-WA01911.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251120T080000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251120T170000
DTSTAMP:20260621T131730
CREATED:20251120T075706Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251120T075706Z
UID:26231-1763625600-1763658000@cojeskidrcongo.org
SUMMARY:Young Girls at school victims of abuses and attacks in Kalemie City Tanganyika Province
DESCRIPTION:Attacks on schools targeting young girls in Kalemie City\, Tanganyika Province by young boys out school for sexual abuses.  \n \nSome young girls at school\, at this time some men already planing how to abuse them sexually \nYoung girls in schools are no longer safe in Kalemie City\, the most vulnerable of security and attacks are those between 12-20 years old. In the morning when they want to go to school these girls have to think twice if they are safe on roads\, in most cases they have to constitute a group of five and more and move together\, sometimes they have to link up with fellow students young boys and move together\, it is the same when they come back from school\, they still have to think twice how they will reach home\, and this is their struggle every day. \nThese girls are victims by groups of young boys between 15 -22 years old who dropped out of school because their parents could not afford to pay the fees at secondary school\, young boys from most vulnerable and poor families who did not access secondary school\, and young boys from single families of orphans who did not access education even primary at all. Generally these young people do constitute themselves in a group of 5-15 people and are involved in various criminality activities in the city. Their main activity is drug abuse and other substances which affect them psychologically and make them gangs. \nSince last year in 2024 Kalemie city started witnessing cases of insecurity in schools caused by these groups of young boys. They come and hide around the school as students are in their classes in the afternoon. Then immediately when learning is over and students start moving out\, they attack the schools using stones\, Pangas\, Knives\, iron bars in their hands and generally their main targets during these attacks are young boys in schools who provide alternative security measures to young girls on their way back home. \nThe intention of the attackers is to discourage the security of young girls on the road\, so that they can easily harass\, rape and sexually abuse these young girls. The boys in schools have often been an obstacle and the best way is to deal with them. In some cases during the attacks some students have sustained serious injuries\, have lost their things including phones and money. And after the attack the perpetrators do disappear freely. No investigations have been done despite the facts that some among these assailants are known and easy to identify\, some are even organized in groups with particular forms of leadership. \nThe recent school that has been victims of this was Ephata Catholic School in du Lac Division in Kalemie City. As always there is a total silence of local authorities\, there is no intervention from the Police and other Security Services\, and no one makes even a follow up including the Ministry of Education which has remained silent\, no single word\, no statement\, and no visit on ground. Yet school administration has alerted about the safety of students and have received no responses. \nHow do we understand this phenomena? \nThere are efforts to encourage the education of young girls alongside young boys also and this was amplified by the Government Free Education Programme\, however many of among these young people both girls and boys especially those from vulnerable communities end only at primary education if they are lucky. Girls in Kalemie City and women in general are perceived first of all as sexual objects\, and their primarily role is sexual satisfaction to boys and men. And as far as sexual habits are concerned the attention is often oriented towards young girls\, men generally use money in order to convince girls and that is condoned by the Society\, the more young girls a man is having the more he is viewed as strong man\, the more women you get the more you are valued in the society among men.  Many young girls end their dreams and the hopes for the future when they get pregnant and those who already have children are not encouraged to continue with education because they are perceived as “women” who should look after a man. \nGenerally women in Kalemie and other parts of the province are first of all sexual subjects and young boys are encouraged to produce children with these girls\, but being in the city life habits do change and many young boys do not have money which can facilitate their relationship with girls. In such a situation\, the use of force and other dissuasive strategies are the best practices. \nSexual exploitation of women and young girls are part of the reasons why authorities at various levels resort to silence because they expect young girls to cooperate with the abusers and rapists. \nConclusion  \nWomen and young girls in this Province of Tanganyika are facing all forms of Sexual and Gender Based Violence and efforts to mitigate this are not often a priority because sexual and gender based violence are embodied in the culture\, in religious beliefs\, in education system and in the governance of the province. Even if there is a great need to promote education of most vulnerable community children both girls and boys especially accessing Secondary\, University Education and tertiary institutions \, there is also urgent need to promote the safety of young girls on roads and in their schools. \nThe following activities should be promoted  \nActivities focusing on Sexual and Gender Based Violence\, \nActivities of scholarships and reduction of fees to vulnerable young people\, \nActivities focusing on reducing violence and drugs abuses in the communities\, \nActivities focusing on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights\, \nActivities focusing on career guidance and counseling to young people\, \nActivities focusing on law enforcement and criminalization of sexual abuses\, \nActivities focusing on the education of young girls called “girl-mothers”\,     \n 
URL:https://cojeskidrcongo.org/event/young-girls-at-school-victims-of-abuses-and-attacks-in-kalemie-city-tanganyika-province/
CATEGORIES:Campaigns,Conference,Petitions,Urgent Action,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cojeskidrcongo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/School-One-.jpg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR