DRC: validation of the draft law on gender parity, subject of a workshop

Kinshasa, February 12^th, 2026 (CPA).– The validation of the mechanisms for implementing the draft law on gender parity and women’s rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was the subject of discussions at a workshop held in Kinshasa, the CPA learned from the organisers on Thursday. ‘This workshop to validate the mechanisms for implementing the draft law on gender parity in the DRC clarified the roles of public institutions, defined the responsibilities of the actors involved, the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, and the coordination between the national, provincial and local levels,’ said Micheline Ombae Kalama, Minister of Gender, Family and Children (GFAE). ‘I reaffirm the commitment of the President of the Republic and Head of State, Félix Tshisekedi Tshilombo, and the government’s determination to correct the historical and structural imbalances between men and women. This is because female representation in public institutions is now considered a priority area of governance,’ she added. The Minister of GFAE also praised the President of the Republic’s vision for his advocacy of positive masculinity, as well as the Prime Minister’s decisive action in implementing these equity policies. For her part, Nathalie Yoka, Program Officer within the ‘Nothing Without Women (NWW)’ movement, requested the direct support of the Minister for Gender in finalizing the decree currently being drafted, while reiterating the importance of their advocacy. ‘We request the personal involvement of Minister Micheline Ombae Kalama in bringing the results of this work to fruition. Rien sans les femmes is a movement bringing together more than 160 civil society organizations and Congolese activists whose objective is to fight for equal representation of men and women in decision-making bodies at all levels in the DRC,’ she argued, before highlighting the organization’s historic achievements, such as the revision of the electoral law and the citizens’ petition with 200,000 signatures demanding respect for the constitutional principles of parity. In her speech, Esther Kamwanya Biayi, Secretary General of the GFAE, stressed the urgent need to move from theory to practice. For her, the quality of legislation is not enough. ‘No matter how progressive a law may be, it cannot transform reality without operational instruments,’ she insisted, thus emphasizing the importance of the draft decrees examined during these proceedings. Constantin Grund, resident representative of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), reaffirmed the support of this long-standing technical partner of governance in the DRC. In his view, gender balance is an ‘essential pillar of institutional stability’.  ‘A society cannot call itself democratic if women are not fairly represented in decision-making bodies,’ he concluded, while welcoming the recent progress made in the DRC on gender parity.