 Initiatives for Peace and Human Rights – Initiatives pour la Paix et les Droits Humains (IPHR-IPDH) poursuit la consolidation de son implantation dans la région des Grands Lacs pour le renforcement de la culture de la paix à travers l’éducation aux droits humains et à la bonne gouvernance. C’est dans cet ordre que la personnalité juridique a été conférée à IPDH-Burundi et IPDH-RDC respectivement par l’Ordonnance du Ministère de l’intérieur No 530/333 du 03 mars 2014 et l’Arrêté du Ministre de la justice et des droits humains No 160/CAB/MIN/J&DH/2014. Pendant des longs mois que la procédure d’octroi de la personnalité juridique a pris pour aboutir à ces deux actes, IPDH n’a jamais tenté d’abdiquer à mener tant bien que mal ses activités dans ces deux pays. Ses activités ont été alors menées sur base des autorisations provisoires émises par des autorités compétentes. Il va de soi que ces deux actes ministériels sont d’une importance capitale dans la mesure où ils reconnaissent à IPDH d’être titulaire des droits et des obligations, en tant qu’organisation, dans chacun de ces pays. Dans ce sens, IPDH-IPHR attend une implication accrue des partenaires locaux, régionaux et internationaux dans la mise en œuvre de ses actions de renforcement de capacité des populations et autorités locales (à travers des sessions de formation), de recherche ainsi que de plaidoyer sur les droits humains et la bonne gouvernance dans la régions des Grands Lacs, sans oublier la facilitation de l’accès à la justice aux personnes démunies.  Vendeuses de denrées alimentaires le long d’une rue à Goma (RDC) – © IPDH 2014 Dans les années à venir, IPHR-IPDH attend se focaliser davantage sur la promotion et la protection des droits économiques et sociaux pour le mieux être des individus et communautés vivant dans cette région des grands lacs.
Par ailleurs, IPHR-IPDH est consciente que la région des Grands Lacs ne vit pas retranchée du monde. De ce fait, quand bien même la paix et la stabilisation de cette région sont la responsabilité première de ses filles et fils, elle (la région des grands lacs) reste aussi tributaire de la contribution de la communauté internationale dans son ensemble.C’est dans cette optique que la création de Stichting Initiatives for Peace and Human Rights (SIPHR) a été légalisée dans la ville d’Utrecht au Royaume des Pays-Bas en date du 28 avril 2014 dans le but primaire de lever des fonds pour financer les activités d’ONG locales basées dans la région des grands lacs africains dans leur travail d’éducation aux droits humains et à la bonne gouvernance. Plus spécifiquement, les fonds levés par SIPHR seront destines à financer les projets visant (1) la promotion et protection des droits humains incluant entre autres l’accès gratuit à la justice aux personnes et groupes vulnérables tels que les femmes, les enfants, les personnes vivant avec handicap, les LGBT, les personnes vivant avec le VIH/SIDA, etc. (2) la reconstruction de la paix et la réconciliation, (3) le renforcement de la bonne gouvernance et de l’Etat de droit et (4) l’encouragement du réseautage entre les organisations poursuivant les objectifs ci-haut mentionnes. Il est anticipé au sein de la famille IPDH que le travail en synergie entre les sections nationales du Burundi, de la RD Congo et du Rwanda et SIPHR des Pays-Bas va impacter de façon durable la vie des hommes, femmes, enfants, jeunes et vieux de cette région du monde longtemps meurtrie par des conflits armés cycliques, d’une faiblesse avérée des institutions et des violations récurrentes des droits fondamentaux.
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 Initiatives for Peace and Human Rights (IPHR) continues to strengthen its presence in the Great Lakes region in order to enhance the culture of peace through human rights and good governance education. It is in this framework that legal personality has been conferred to IPHR-Burundi and IPHR-DRC by respectively the Ordinance of the Ministry of Interior No.530/333 of 3 March 2014 and the Decree of the Minister of Justice and human rights No.160/CAB/MIN/J&DH/2014. During the long months that the procedure for granting legal personality took, IPHR never abandoned to pursue its mission in these two countries. IPHR’s activities were then conducted on the basis of provisional authorizations issued by the competent authorities. It goes without saying that these two ministerial acts are of paramount importance since they recognize IPHR to hold rights and obligations, as an organization, in each of these countries. It follows that IPHR-IPDH expects greater involvement of local, regional and international partners in the implementation of its actions in relation with building the capacity of individuals, communities and local authorities (through training), researching, and advocating for human rights and good governance in the Great Lakes region, not to mention facilitating access to justice for the poor.  In the coming years, IPHR intends to focus more on the promotion and protection of economic and social rights for the well-being of individuals and communities living in the Great Lakes region.
Moreover, IPHR is aware that the Great Lakes does not live cut off from the world. Therefore, even though the peace and stability of this region are the primary responsibility of its daughters and son, the Great Lakes region also remains dependent on the contribution of the international community as a whole. It is in this context that the creation of Stichting Initiatives for Peace and Human Rights (SIPHR) was legalized in the city of Utrecht in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, on 28 April 2014 with the primary purpose of raising funds to finance activities of local NGOs based in the African Great lakes in their work of education on human rights and good governance. More specifically, the funds raised by SIPHR are intended to finance projects aiming at (1) the promotion and protection of human rights including, among others, free access to justice for vulnerable individuals and groups such as women, children, people living with disability, LGBT, people living with HIV/AIDS, etc., (2) the enhancement of peace-building and reconciliation, (3) the strengthening of good governance and the rule of law, and (4) the promotion of networking among organizations pursuing the objectives mentioned above . It is strongly believed within IPHR family that the synergy between the national organizations of Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda and SIPHR in Netherlands will impact in a sustainable way on the lives of men, women, children, youth and old in this region long scarred by cyclic armed conflicts, dramatically weak institutions and recurring human rights violations. IPHR President recognized one of the World's Top 99 Most Influential Leaders in Foreign Policy10/9/2013  Mr Elvis Mbembe Binda, President and Co-founder of IPHR Elvis Mbembe Binda, IPHR's president and co-founder, has just appeared on the 2013 "99 Under 33" list published this afternoon by the US Magazine Diplomatic Courier as one of the World's Top 99 most Influential Leaders in Foreign Policy Under the age of 33. “99 Under 33” is an international list jointly launched by Diplomatic Courier and Young Professional in Foreign Policy in 2011 to capture the extraordinary impact on international affairs of 99 diverse Millennials under the age of 33. Several hundred people were nominated this year by last year’s 99 Under 33 honorees, ambassadors, business leaders, and scholars. Only 99 were selected after a rigorous three-step process by the Selection Committee.
The list and individuals profiles of the Top 99 Under 33 offer insight into creativity, determination, and passion of the young people like Elvis Mbembe who are already tackling and solving the world’s critical global challenges. This year only four Africans appeared on the list of which most of the nominees are americans. Other African nominees are from Ghana, Kenya and Liberia. By design, this list is broad and diverse, encompassing entrepreneurs, technologists, journalists, bankers, activists, and scientists—as well as diplomats and other government officials. This reflects the belief that foreign policy in the 21st Century is made by leaders from all sectors. The "99 Under 33" recognizes the distinctive impact each of the honorees has on his or her community today and their promise of potential as leader in the future. Everyone on the list is quite different, but every single person was chosen for specific reasons. Each of the honorees has been mapped to one of the seven leadership archetypes that define the "99 Under 33", even though many of them exhibit most of these qualities in some facet of their work: - A Catalyst is from a field not typically associated with foreign policy who has had an impact on international affairs. - A Convener brings people together in creative ways to address a pressing international issue or enhance the foreign policy community. - An Influencer mobilizes people in the foreign policy community with bold new ideas. - An Innovator designs a new solution to a critical global challenge. - A Practitioner changes foreign policy from the inside through extraordinary professionalism and skill. - A Risk-taker takes a chance and sees it pay off. - A Shaper changes the public discourse on an aspect of foreign policy or raises awareness on a critical issue. “As a Catalyst, Elvis works tirelessly to uphold respect of human rights, good governance and rule of law in the Great Lakes of Africa. Elvis emphasizes the power of human rights and good governance education for sustainable peace in the region and he shares this approach with university students.” highlights Ana C. Rold, Editor-in-Chief, Diplomatic Courier. This nomination is a recognition of modest efforts that IPHR is doing to contribute in peace building in the Great Lakes region. For instance, in May this year IPHR organized a regional moot court competition in partnership with a Switzerland-based NGO (Comite pour le Concours Grands Lacs) on international humanitarian law and human rights that brought to Kigali law students and teachers from fourteen (14) universities of Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda. Two students (from the University of Kinshasa in DRC) who won the competition were automatically admitted to pursue a Master’s programme (LL.M) in Advanced Studies of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights at the Geneva Academy in Switzerland with full scholarship. Like other honorees, Elvis has been invited to the official reception that will be held in Washington, DC at the National Press Club on October 9th, 2013.  On 20-22 August 2013 Mr Yves Sezirahiga, the head of Human Rights and Access to Justice unit of IPHR, participated in a regional workshop on "Abortion, Reproductive Rights and the Role of Lawyers" that was organized in Nairobi by Ipas. This training brought together lawyers working in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia and Rwanda who are well versed in reproductive rights and committed to promoting access to safe abortion.
The objectives of the workshop were: (1) to share their work promoting reproductive rights and access to safe abortion and learn from others, (2) to build capacity in promoting abortion rights through constitutional reform, improving access to medication abortion, law reform, working with law enforcement, and communications, and (3) to cultivate relationships among lawyers working on abortion in the region. Like many african countries, Rwanda has recently introduced restrictive provisions related to abortion in the Penal Code. According to article 165 of new Penal Code (2012) of Rwanda, abortion can be accepted only in case of rape, incest, forced marriage or when the continuation of pregnancy endangers the mother's life. Apart from the last case, in the three other circumstances abortion can only be authorized by a court. This really threatens the reproductive rights of women and girls in Rwanda. During the training, Mr Yves did a presentation where he raised the issue caused by the criminalization of abortion under Rwandan law. He recalled Rwanda's international obligations especially regarding Maputo Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of women in Africa in its article 14(a) and (c) enjoining State parties to "insure that the right to health of women, including sexual and reproductive health is respected and promoted. This includes: a) the right to control their fertility [...] and c) the right to choose any method of contraception". IPHR is strongly advocating for the promotion of reproductive rights for all Rwandan women. This workshop was part of our regional networking and efforts to equip IPHR staff with necessary knowledge and skills to better promote women's rights. A project to raise the awareness of the Rwandan judiciary (judges, prosecutors, police, and lawyers) about women's reproductive rights is underway in a perspective of promoting access to safe abortion.  Initiatives for Peace and Human Rights (IPHR) has just been given a go-ahead from the department of Justice of the South Kivu Province to operate countrywide in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This authorization has been long overdue. IPHR Headquarters are located in Bukavu. Before this authorization, IPHR was active in the Eastern DRC carrying out activities especially in North Kivu province with its partners such as Ligue Congolaise pour la Promotion des droits des Personnes Vulnerables et/ou Marginalisees (LiCoProMa). This authorization is a milestone in the achievement of IPHR's vision to cover in medium-term three countries of the Great Lakes region that are Rwanda, DR Congo and Burundi. More details about our action plan for the DR Congo will follow soon.
For questions or information, please address an email to Mr Ezechiel Amani Cirimwami, the Vice-President of IPHR-DR Congo at ezechiel.amani@iphr-ipdh.org. |
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