To mark the UN International Day of Peace WFWP-UK held their First Women of Africa United in Peace ‘Bridge of Peace’ event on Sunday 20th September 2009; it was a wonderful occasion which bought together over 110 women to demonstrate the way on peace-building and reconciliation initiatives, hence promoting a more peaceful, harmonious society. Our Emcee Marie-Lyse Numuhoza introduced, a panel of distinguished guests’ speakers:
Mrs Marie-Therese Nlandu – Presidential Candidate in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s - Elections of July 2006 Human Rights lawyer Amnesty International Prisoner of conscience 2006-7 I am pleased and honoured to stand here in front of you to celebrate this day, the wonderful day of peace. As you know peace is a state of being quiet. Peace is our common responsibility, a world responsibility. Women and Peace is the same thing, they get married forever. It is important that the United Nations (UN) decide a particular date devoted to peace. Peace is so important to humanity that when it breaks down, basic human rights such as right to live, to security and to freedom cannot exist. So, it is good to pause for a while and meditate on the state of the world peace, celebrate with those who are able to celebrate but also try not to forget those who are excluded from celebration today. If in many parts of the world important progress has been made towards peace, we must sadly say that in other areas peace is very far from being achieved. I would like to focus with you on those hot islands of insecurity, of war, of violence and of human rights abuses where men, women, and children have no cause of celebration today. In doing so, we can better see who we may build Peace Bridge with and, finally, we will be able to see how peace bridges can be built with the aim of bringing more people to the celebration of next year’s Peace Day. We know that the UN Resolution 1325 (31.10.2000) made specific provisions for the protection of women during armed conflict. But the reality in the DRC is the entire contrary.
BUILDING BRIDGES OF PEACE The first step to building peace is to become peace agents ourselves. We need to become peaceful people inside and around us and to take action to prevent the breakdown of peace and actively contribute to rebuild it with all our abilities. As individuals we need to be aware of what is going on in some troubled places of the world such as Somalia, Nigeria, Darfur, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and the Congo and decide to do something about peace in those areas. For example, we support the Iranian women of refugee camp of Ashraf in Iraq by standing before the USA Embassy here in London since July 2009. We may just choose to raise awareness or to organise events in support of women and children affected in those places. We need to be creative and to show active solidarity.
Marcianne Uwimana comes from Rwanda and she is a committed Christian. Marcianne started by sharing have you ever seen terrible things happening to your loved ones, friends and Innocent /vulnerable people in your community, region or your country and you feel God calling you do something about it? This is what happened to the founder of ALARM and to all those who are supporting its ministries in different ways. Between April & July 1994, more than 70% of Rwandan church leaders were murdered in tribal conflicts when ironically, 90% of the population is nominal churchgoers. Over a million lives were lost in the bloodshed that still fosters widespread hatred and bitter retaliation. The war also involved Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan. ALARM was formed by Africans to equip native leaders to restore peace & build a future for its people. We believe that the bonds of Christian love will encourage many believers to help us in our struggle to restore peace, hope & faith to Africa, through working together towards long term solutions.
Patti Boulaye is a Governor of BADA the famous drama academy and a Fellow member of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). In May 2005 Patti produced and starred in the initiation production the role of women in Africa today Patti spoke about what challenges do African Women face? We live in obviously male-dominated societies that are suspicious of change. The role of women has changed It has become broader but change is slow because so much is economic. Women must insist on that change, However it is not always possible to do so because women do not have the economic power to deal with the consequences. Are enough women in positions of power throughout Africa? No not yet but Patti emphasised that Women have long been excluded but change is crawling in now. As in the rest of the world, African women have shown that they can indeed excel in positions of real influence. They need only be given the opportunity. The way women can bring about change most successfully is by questioning assumptions, saying an emphatic no, being informed, speaking out and taking responsibility for our own lives. Patti strongly mentioned that we must raise sons to truly respect women, and daughters to believe that they have as many options as their brothers. We are the mothers that rise the next generation, the future of our country lies in our hands. We need to educate and our sons, husbands’ and brothers, we have to ask who is benefiting when a woman is silenced in the name of African culture. Women need to take ownership and responsibility. We must change; we must reach out and hold hands for the benefit of the greater good.
Cllr Margaret Ali After hearing the sad stories of Congo, Rwanda and Nigerian situation, my heart goes out to people of Africa. However despite the greatness of women of Africa (or indeed all women of the world!) we find that they do not support or encourage women who succeed in getting positions of influence, On the other hand once a woman gets to a position of power should she not then lends a hand and raises other women up? In all this it is an important principle which we respect in WFWP that women utilize their feminine abilities and qualities of compassion and reconciliation in management and governance rather than adopting qualities of man to be able to achieve this, we need to forge friendships to allow us to understand one another and hence help each other
In WFWP, we have a beautiful Bridge of peace ceremony were 2 ladies acknowledge their differences, say sorry for their short comings then meet in a gesture of embrace on the bridge of peace, determine to unity to resolve the differences and become sisters of peace. However, unless we learn to forge friendships and understand one another, the Bridge of peace ceremony will remain just a ceremony. That is why WFWP international started this ceremony by naming the Bridge of peace-women’s international friendship conferences, we need women of Africa to use the magnificence to resolve their differences to build friendships and thus learn to understand one another between tribes and nations of Africa. Then we non African women should lend a hand to help African women achieve this.
Marie Immaculee Mukamuganga, comes from Africa in the country called Rwanda. My husband and I work in our own private clinic in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. My husband is a doctor and I am a nurse. I am not sure if any of you know more about Rwanda; the beautiful country with a brilliant weather, but which had had problems of civil wars between tribes that live there. In 1959, there were two tribes that were conflicted to each other: Hutu and Tutsi. It was then many Tutsis have exiled the country to different countries but mainly to our neighbours Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Zaire that was changed to Republic Democratic of Congo (DRC). After long time in exile, they wanted to come back to their native country but the government at that time led by Hutu said that the country was too small to accommodate anyone. Therefore, Tutsi had no choice and decided to enter the country by force. It was in 1990 that Tutsi formed a troupe called RPF (Rwandese Patriotic Front) in order to liberate the country. They attacked Rwanda in a war lasted four years of blood in whole country. It is estimated that a million of Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed in period of hundred days in 1994. In July 1994 the war was over with RPF victory but conflicts carried on. We are in crisis time for aiming that what happened in Rwanda will never happen again, especially women because are the fundamental of peace creation. I am privileged and happy to have met other women like you who aspire for peace in the world. I wish to keep working with you in order to gain your support to keep and seek peace in my native country.
Comments from some women
•“Thank you so much for the wonderful and inspiring afternoon. What a wonderful turn out and what amazing and touching stories. I think the message loud and clear was the victory of human spirit over all evil”
•“It has been a great pleasure to meet you again at this grandiose event for Women of Africa United in Peace. It was a brilliant gathering of great women. Change will come.”
To mark the UN International Day of Peace WFWP-UK held their First Women of Africa United in Peace ‘Bridge of Peace’ event on Sunday 20th September 2009; it was a wonderful occasion which bought together over 110 women to demonstrate the way on peace-building and reconciliation initiatives, hence promoting a more peaceful, harmonious society. Our Emcee Marie-Lyse Numuhoza introduced, a panel of distinguished guests’ speakers:
Mrs Marie-Therese Nlandu – Presidential Candidate in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s - Elections of July 2006 Human Rights lawyer Amnesty International Prisoner of conscience 2006-7 I am pleased and honoured to stand here in front of you to celebrate this day, the wonderful day of peace. As you know peace is a state of being quiet. Peace is our common responsibility, a world responsibility. Women and Peace is the same thing, they get married forever. It is important that the United Nations (UN) decide a particular date devoted to peace. Peace is so important to humanity that when it breaks down, basic human rights such as right to live, to security and to freedom cannot exist. So, it is good to pause for a while and meditate on the state of the world peace, celebrate with those who are able to celebrate but also try not to forget those who are excluded from celebration today. If in many parts of the world important progress has been made towards peace, we must sadly say that in other areas peace is very far from being achieved. I would like to focus with you on those hot islands of insecurity, of war, of violence and of human rights abuses where men, women, and children have no cause of celebration today. In doing so, we can better see who we may build Peace Bridge with and, finally, we will be able to see how peace bridges can be built with the aim of bringing more people to the celebration of next year’s Peace Day. We know that the UN Resolution 1325 (31.10.2000) made specific provisions for the protection of women during armed conflict. But the reality in the DRC is the entire contrary. 
Marcianne Uwimana comes from Rwanda and she is a committed Christian. Marcianne started by sharing have you ever seen terrible things happening to your loved ones, friends and Innocent /vulnerable people in your community, region or your country and you feel God calling you do something about it? This is what happened to the founder of ALARM and to all those who are supporting its ministries in different ways. Between April & July 1994, more than 70% of Rwandan church leaders were murdered in tribal conflicts when ironically, 90% of the population is nominal churchgoers. Over a million lives were lost in the bloodshed that still fosters widespread hatred and bitter retaliation. The war also involved Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan. ALARM was formed by Africans to equip native leaders to restore peace & build a future for its people. We believe that the bonds of Christian love will encourage many believers to help us in our struggle to restore peace, hope & faith to Africa, through working together towards long term solutions.
Patti Boulaye is a Governor of BADA the famous drama academy and a Fellow member of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). In May 2005 Patti produced and starred in the initiation production the role of women in Africa today Patti spoke about what challenges do African Women face? We live in obviously male-dominated societies that are suspicious of change. The role of women has changed It has become broader but change is slow because so much is economic. Women must insist on that change, However it is not always possible to do so because women do not have the economic power to deal with the consequences. Are enough women in positions of power throughout Africa? No not yet but Patti emphasised that Women have long been excluded but change is crawling in now. As in the rest of the world, African women have shown that they can indeed excel in positions of real influence. They need only be given the opportunity. The way women can bring about change most successfully is by questioning assumptions, saying an emphatic no, being informed, speaking out and taking responsibility for our own lives. Patti strongly mentioned that we must raise sons to truly respect women, and daughters to believe that they have as many options as their brothers. We are the mothers that rise the next generation, the future of our country lies in our hands. We need to educate and our sons, husbands’ and brothers, we have to ask who is benefiting when a woman is silenced in the name of African culture. Women need to take ownership and responsibility. We must change; we must reach out and hold hands for the benefit of the greater good.
Cllr Margaret Ali After hearing the sad stories of Congo, Rwanda and Nigerian situation, my heart goes out to people of Africa. However despite the greatness of women of Africa (or indeed all women of the world!) we find that they do not support or encourage women who succeed in getting positions of influence, On the other hand once a woman gets to a position of power should she not then lends a hand and raises other women up? In all this it is an important principle which we respect in WFWP that women utilize their feminine abilities and qualities of compassion and reconciliation in management and governance rather than adopting qualities of man to be able to achieve this, we need to forge friendships to allow us to understand one another and hence help each other
Marie Immaculee Mukamuganga, comes from Africa in the country called Rwanda. My husband and I work in our own private clinic in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. My husband is a doctor and I am a nurse. I am not sure if any of you know more about Rwanda; the beautiful country with a brilliant weather, but which had had problems of civil wars between tribes that live there. In 1959, there were two tribes that were conflicted to each other: Hutu and Tutsi. It was then many Tutsis have exiled the country to different countries but mainly to our neighbours Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Zaire that was changed to Republic Democratic of Congo (DRC). After long time in exile, they wanted to come back to their native country but the government at that time led by Hutu said that the country was too small to accommodate anyone. Therefore, Tutsi had no choice and decided to enter the country by force. It was in 1990 that Tutsi formed a troupe called RPF (Rwandese Patriotic Front) in order to liberate the country. They attacked Rwanda in a war lasted four years of blood in whole country. It is estimated that a million of Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed in period of hundred days in 1994. In July 1994 the war was over with RPF victory but conflicts carried on. We are in crisis time for aiming that what happened in Rwanda will never happen again, especially women because are the fundamental of peace creation. I am privileged and happy to have met other women like you who aspire for peace in the world. I wish to keep working with you in order to gain your support to keep and seek peace in my native country.
