From 28-30 October 2024, UNDP in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) hosted a landmark event: the knowledge-sharing, capitalization, and learning workshop of the pilot implementation of the Gender Equality Recognition for Civil Society Organizations. This game changing initiative, led by UNDP in Congo and supported by Sweden, aims to build gender equality awareness and capacities, strengthen gender responsive management, and recognize civil society organizations working in peace consolidation and resilience in six conflict affected provinces (Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Ituri, Tanganyika, Kasaï et Kasaï Central). This initiative is part of the UNDP Global Strategy for the Promotion of Gender Equality 2022-2025 which aims to help the country embrace complexity, find new solutions, respond flexibly, and promote learning rather than compliance or rigid responses to gender equality.
The 3-day event, hosted in Kinshasa, included representatives from the seven participating civil society organizations (SPR, ECOGE, FMMDI, AFEM, SAFEKA, CADEFA and SEFA, by their acronyms in French), representatives of the Gender Divisions in these provinces and from the Ministry of Gender at the central level, together with UNDP specialists both from Country Offices and the HQ Gender Seal Team. The workshop provided a platform for participants to share experiences, analyze progress, and plan future actions for advancing gender equality both in their organizations and in their programmatic work with the communities. It also provided key insights for reviewing the program standards of compliance, roadmap and methodology to respond to the challenges faced and integrate the lessons learned during the piloting.
Importantly, the workshop presentations and discussions highlighted strong ownership and involvement achieved both by mentor and mentee organizations, which recognize and value the impact the program has had in their organizations. Some of the most noticeable achievements include improving leadership commitment on gender equality and overall staff and volunteers’ awareness, facilitating institutional reforms, and developing the quality of their engagement and gender responsiveness with the communities in which they work.
While at this pilot phase, the program was mainly focused on strengthening organizational capacities. Some of the participants shared relevant gender equality results achieved, and one powerful example of these impacts came from the Center for Assistance and Development of Women’s Activities (CADEFA). This organization started collaborating with village chiefs to incorporate more gender-sensitive approaches when solving community disputes, shifting traditional attitudes, and facilitating more inclusive decision-making that respect women’s perspectives. The Association of Women of the Media (AFEM) also expanded its influence by collaborating with other development partners to train nine local media entities on gender-sensitive reporting to strengthen public understanding on gender equality. Similarly, the organization Solidarity for the Emergence of the Family (SAFEKA) reported to have successfully included women into technical training programs traditionally dominated by men.
The program has also facilitated networking among participant organizations and strengthened their engagement with provincial gender divisions. The workshop underscored the essential role of community-based efforts and expanded partnerships between the development community, civil society, and the government, emphasizing that advancing gender equality requires collaborative learning and intentional strategy.
