The Osire Women's Centre--working in isolation.

Women at the Osire refugee camp in central Namibia founded the Osire Association of Women in 2000, using first the Baptist church and later a kindergarten as a venue. One year later an American organisation provided the women with building material, and in March 2003 the Osire Women's Centre was opened. The centre has rooms for training and counselling activities, a storage room and a kitchen. A small restaurant offers simple and cheap meals and caters for workshops. Refugee women offer training in tailoring, quilting, knitting and soap making to other women in the camp.

A Women's Committee and a Gender Based Sexual Violence Committee (GBSVC) regularly meet at the centre. They were formed because of the high number of rape cases, teenage pregnancies and teenage prostitution in the camp. "We have fathers raping their daughters, forced marriages and a lot of violence because of jealousy," a woman reported. "Some parents encourage their daughters to sleep with men for a few Namibia Dollars, and when they get pregnant they might receive a few hundred dollars to remain silent about the father."

The Women's Committee aims to empower women by informing them about their rights. The GBSV committee provides a station where women can report cases of rape, domestic violence and sexual harassment. It tries to help through counselling, by holding meetings with the people affected and by enlisting the assistance of the police.

The work at the centre remains extremely difficult. Many men discourage their wives from volunteering. Women intending to report rape cases or other acts of violence are often threatened by family members and remain silent. The women working at the centre often feel frustrated, helpless and, most of all, alone.

"We always work in isolation. We do not belong to a family; we do not belong to a larger community, and we do not belong to a country. We desperately need to develop our skills as women leaders and as women lobbyists. And we would love to feel part of the women in Namibia or of women anywhere else in the world."

Joyce Mends-Cole, Representative of the UN High Commission on Refugees in Namibia, says that the refugee women in Osire are faced with many challenges that limit their opportunity to interact with other women's groups. They live in a relatively remote area and there is no commercial transportation from Osire to Otjiwarango, the nearest town. Also, the refugees are currently only allowed to move from the camp twice per week.

The women have now proposed that they be given stalls at market places in nearby towns to sell their vegetables and handicrafts and interact with women in the region. According to Mends-Cole, "The women would like to be involved in 'mainstream' activities. I would suggest that women's groups visit the camp to understand the situation and see how to help. International Women's day on 8th March would be a good day to start."

Resolution on the Situation of Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The African Commission on Human and People's Rights, at its meeting in November 2006 in Banjul, considered the armed conflicts in the DRC which have been ushering in a climate of insecurity and violence, particularly for women, since 1996. It expressed concern over the widespread and systematic nature of sexual violence against women and the spread of HIV/Aids among the victims of these crimes. It worried over the incapacity of the police to protect women's safety and security. It also highlighted complaints alleging collective rape by gangs in Kinshasa and by agents of the National Armed Forces.

The Committee urged the government of the DRC to ratify the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa and to harmonise its national laws with the Protocol; to effectively implement the new law on sexual violence; to grant necessary resources to the police force to enable it to prevent and control acts of sexual violence; and to provide medical and psychological assistance for victims of sexual violence. Finally, the Committee recommended that the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa undertake a mission to promote the human rights of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo.