Eve Bazaiba Masudi (Dem. Republic of the Congo)


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Update:

Honorable Senator Eve Bazaiba Masudi is a Member of Parliament, Chair of the Social and Cultural Committee, Democratic Republic of Congo, She is Secretary General of the MLC (Mouvement de Libération du Congo).  She was also Honorary Senator and President of the Social and Cultural Senate Committee, from 2007 to 2012. She is President of the League of Congolese Women for Elections and is a consultant in human rights, rights of women and children, and peaceful conflict management.

Senator Eve Bazaiba is one of only five elected women in the DRC Senate, and the only woman to chair a committee (on Social and Cultural issues). She is also the President of the Congolese Women’s League for the Elections and an honorary member of WILPF DRC group. Eve Bazaiba was instrumental in the campaign to introduce the law against sexual violence in the DRC constitution in 2006. She continues to be a strong advocate of disarmament and demilitarization as well as conflict prevention and peace building in the Great Lakes Regions of Africa.

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Eve’s work has benefited women, children and victims of armed conflicts – the entire population of the Great Lakes Region. Women are now more involved in preventing and managing conflicts.

Eve Bazaiba Masudi (39) has been active since 1995 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), working in human rights issues, international negotiation, and recently as a member of Women as Partners for Peace in Africa (Woppa). She advocates non-violence, dialogue, tolerance and humility through training and sensitizing women, to promote citizenship and republican values. She has no institutional support and is often incapacitated in her work.

Eve Bazaiba Masudi works within a global vision of peace, surpassing tribalism. She doubles as a university student and an activist and holds a diploma in international relations. As a Muslim, Eve Bazaiba has struck a balance between Christian and Muslim education. Her work involves regularly contacting fighting factions in the conflict areas and holding late-night meetings. Her quest for consensus motivates her: an involvement made without any personal gains or expectations. It is remarkable to note that she uses what is available and has no institutional support. She is nationally recognized, yet she lives a modest life believing in peace, dialogue, democracy, cooperation and collaboration, respect of women and children’s rights, tolerance, prosperity and development. But she is often challenged in her work by corruption, prejudices, backward customs, and discrimination against women. Woppa works in eight countries. It aims at reinforcing power and capacity of women in Africa, and particularly in the Great Lakes Region. Eve Bazaida’s work has undeniably benefited women, children and victims of armed conflicts, fighting factions and the entire population of the Great Lakes Region. Women are now more involved in preventing and managing conflicts. Numerous organisations similar to Woppa have emerged in the east of the region – thanks to Eve Bazaiba’s efforts. Today, the Congolese men and women, specifically those living in the eastern part of the country, understand the importance of the pacific resolution of conflicts and cohabitation, as well as the utility of the interstate good-neighborhood policy.

Women as Partners for Peace in Africa (Woppa)

Africa | Dem. Republic of the Congo