Africa | Congo | Culture

Congo-Brazzaville starts war on terrorism by banning full veils

Congo-Brazzaville, has experienced no threat of Islamic jihad but the government has decided to fight it nonetheless, starting with prohibiting Muslim women from wearing full veils in public places. The regulation aims to prevent terrorism and insecurity, according to the interior ministry. Women can still wear their full veil at home or at mosques. Some Muslims condemn this “extreme” decision because few women actually wear full veils. Besides, 80 percent of Congolese are Christians. There are only about 800,000 Muslims in the country — 5 percent of the population — and most of

Africa | Congo | Culture

DR Congo’s ‘Mama Parity’ fights for women’s role in politics

Source: Aquila Style

In DR Congo, where women struggle against terrible violence and inequality, a committed activist fights against all the odds to give women a third of all elected posts. Known as “Maman Parite” — “Mama Parity” in English — Esperance Mawanzo hasn’t stopped to catch her breath since a hotly disputed January electoral law cancelled out President Joseph Kabila’s pledge to bring more women into politics. Maman Parite lives and works in Bukavu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where women still suffer in the wake of a savage conflict that infamously saw all sides