A delegation from the Democratic Republic of Congo will be staying in the USA from June 4, 2025, to June 15, 2025, as part of activities related to the National Fund for Compensation of Victims of Sexual Violence related to conflicts and other crimes against peace and security of humanity (Fonarev).
This stay is timely as it takes place before another meeting scheduled for next September aimed at raising awareness among the public and American authorities, not only about the humanitarian crisis but also about ethical sourcing of raw materials in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Concerned with peace and justice and mindful of the future of the country, the Congolese government decided to legally establish in 2022 the National Fund for Reparation of Victims of Sexual Violence related to conflicts and other crimes against peace and security of humanity.
As the first public institution serving victims of sexual violence and under the supervision of the Ministry of Human Rights, Fonarev officially launched its activities on August 2, 2023, during the commemoration of Genocost, which means ‘genocide for economic gain,’ thus explaining the economic nature of the genocide in the DRC.
The Fonarev has missions including, among others, identifying victims, assisting victims in gaining access to justice, and allocating reparations to victims.
Here are its objectives:
Mobilize and collect financial resources at the national and international levels, intended for the reparations of victims of sexual violence related to conflicts and other crimes against peace and the security of humanity;
Support the operations of the national structures responsible for the implementation of transitional justice in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under the conditions set by the order of the minister in charge of human rights;
Helping victims of sexual violence related to conflicts and crimes against peace and the security of humanity access justice and receive appropriate assistance free of charge;
To recover from the perpetrators of sexual violence related to conflicts and crimes against peace and security of humanity, the damage awarded to the victims, or their legal representatives compensated in the context of a court decision.
It is common knowledge that sexual crimes and other crimes from the current conflicts that have claimed the lives of more than six million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo according to government sources, while the weapons of the M23 rebel movement, backed by Rwanda, continue to crackle in the Kivu region against the backdrop of the country’s raw materials.
Bazona Barnabé Bado