Empower Congo’s Resilient Women: Support WEC-CONGO’s Economic Recovery Initiative

WEC-CONGO's mission is to create equal opportunities for men and women, focusing on socio-economic empowerment, vocational training, entrepreneurship, food security, and the stabilization of post-conflict regions. The organization has empowered over 3,500 girls through skills training and economic programs.

Notable partners include Girls Not Brides, COSCAE, RSF, Women’s World Wide Web, UNFPA, and the Provincial Division of Social Affairs. These collaborations amplify WEC-CONGO’s reach and impact in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Tanganyika.

The Challenges

Eastern D.R.C continues to experience armed conflict, particularly due to renewed violence from the M23 armed group. The conflict has created a humanitarian crisis, with women and girls suffering the brunt of displacement, sexual violence, and economic hardship. In displacement camps around Goma, MSF has documented alarming levels of sexual violence, averaging 48 cases per day.

Many young women, especially orphans or those abandoned by their families, are forced into survival sex to afford food and shelter. Unwanted pregnancies and extreme poverty are rampant. Even after returning to their villages, these women remain without access to stable livelihoods or support systems.

WEC-CONGO seeks to address this crisis through an economic empowerment initiative that restores dignity, builds skills, and provides tools for self-sufficiency.

Why It Matters

This project will directly impact 50 young women survivors of conflict and sexual violence. By equipping them with agricultural tools, vocational training, and business capital, WEC-CONGO will:

• Provide sustainable income sources through farming and small businesses
• Enhance their financial independence and resilience
• Reduce reliance on harmful coping mechanisms like survival sex
• Improve the well-being of their children and dependents
• Build a foundation for long-term recovery and community reintegration

The ripple effect of empowering these women includes better health, education for their children, and a strengthened local economy.

Solution

WEC-CONGO aims to raise $10,000 to implement an economic empowerment project in the Kirotche health zone, North Kivu. The project will:

• Train 50 young women in modern agricultural techniques and provide each with market gardening seeds and a hoe
• Offer business management training on selecting viable income-generating activities, market research, marketing, customer relations, savings, and credit
• Provide seed funding to each woman to launch or expand a small business
• Introduce and integrate them into Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs)
• Group them into two Economic Interest Groups for collaborative growth
• Monitor their progress regularly to ensure sustainability

By the end of the program, each participant will have developed practical skills, launched income-generating activities, and gained financial stability.