Summery of the Global Day of Actions to decriminalize abortion in Goma DRC
Report of the Public Debate on the Global Day of Actions to Decriminalize Abortion in Goma RDCongo, March 28th 2024. The original French Report is attached here ” DEBAT OUVERT SUR LA STIGMATISATION D’AVORTEMENT
Introduction
In line with the Global Day of Actions to decriminalize Abortion, the Collective of Youth Organizations for Solidarity in DRCongo, Coordination of North Kivu, together with her local partners the New Dynamic of the Civil Society North Kivu (NDCI), and Jeunes Solidaires du Quatres Coins du Monde (JS4), in collaboration with the Abortion Conversation Projects (ACP) and International Network for the Reduction of Abortion Discrimination and Stigma (INROADS), held the very first public debate on reducing stigma in Goma.
In total 37 people attended the event which started at 10:30 am and ended at 2:30 pm.
Actions before March 2024
Fundraising:
We posted a fundraising drive on GlobalGiving which is still running up to now, and we still encourage people of good will to donate. We know that issues around abortion are not among causes which can attract the attention of many people in order to donate, we also know that abortion is controversial.
Meetings
In order to prepare the events we held five meetings among them 3 were internal which focused on planning and two were external with other organizations in order to share information, one was NDSCI and the other was with the Coalition for Pacific Cohabitation and Solidarity with Internally Displaced Persons, these meetings served as part of sharing knowledge which attended directly 69 people.
Social media: The Campaign was shared in our social media mainly: Website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram among others. Our members also shared the Campaign in their various social media mainly Facebook and Twitter Accounts. We also shared the campaign in more than 2500 emails.
Participants
We deliberately targeted young people below 40 years composed of 80% women and from marginalized communities in Goma. This is because basing on our research they are mostly at risk and have no access to information.
Conversation on abortion
The public Debate started at 10:30 am with the welcome remarks by Kulihoshi Musikami Pecos, who was the Moderator of the session, then it was followed by the presentation of participants. Two presenters from COJESKI who participated in the research mainly Godelive and Florence were asked to present themselves.
The followed by the opening remarks which were done by Kulihoshi Musikami Pecos, the Provincial Coordinator of COJESKI North Kivu. Here is his opening remarks “
In order to usher the audience in the real debate, 40 minutes were focused on the situation of women in line with the month of actions for women under the theme “ Invest in women, accelerate progress”, after such an interactive engagement of participants then we introduced the debate of abortion.
Florence the main presenter, shared with the participants what they found in the field, what women use in order to abortion, share cases of those who have been victims of the consequences of unsafe abortion, and what pushes women to seek abortion, but also how to access information about abortion in Goma.
The participants shared with others how they get information generally from Facebook, friends, activities organized by organizations, and from some Pharmacies.
It was observed that there is a big gap for women to access accurate information about abortion, the participants also argued they do not know where they can access services especially those who want to have abortion willingly, the audience shared information about the services to those who have been victims of sexual violence, but nothing was available for women who are willing to terminate pregnancy. The information from the medical people is also a problem where women are asked questions why they want abortion, who is the man responsible for the pregnancy and to bring someone who will sign a form for a woman, all these remove the secrecy character and create a barrier to many women, who opt for unsafe way.
The audience also shared arguments on the morality, the debate on religious belief, the legal regime that criminalizes abortion, and the attitude of the community members around you. The debate became passionate on issues around sexuality and the reasons why women should resort to abortion, this prolonged the debate up to 2:30 pm yet and still participants did not finish what they wanted to speak. The conversation continued also during the sharing of soft drinks and snacks, and people were encouraged to join a WhatsApp Group which was put in place.
After the debate the following recommendations were made:
To include sexual education in the reduce abortion campaign,
To explore and orient the campaigns towards human rights perspective in order to religious arguments,
To expend activities and conversations to a wider audience,
To advocate for the change of legal policies around abortion and sexuality in DRCongo,
To engage local authorities, religious authorities, traditional leaders and also bring men in the conversation,
To educate women about their rights and work more on those who are vulnerable and marginalized,
Conclusion
We really believe the Public Open Debate in Goma on abortion was a success and the participants were informed about:
Happy to get a space where people can engage on issues that are considered taboo,
Have now access to clear information on how to seek abortion, what they can do before and opportunities to avoid unwanted pregnancies,
Received another knowledge and ideas which are different from religious and cultural belief,
Ready to work and promote access to information among others in different communities,