The IFOR, in collaboration with the IPRA and with the support of the FOR US, is organizing a webinar on DRCongo: Views from the DRCongo: Prospects for International Solidarity and Peace.
The event will be held on Zoom at 3PM, New York time on Thursday, March 20th. It will be in English with simultaneous interpretation services available for other languages.
Guest Speaker Biographies
Anny Tengamendite Modi is a co-founder and executive director of AFIA MAMA, an NGO focused on improving women's well-being and addressing issues such as stigma and discrimination faced by individuals living with HIV/AIDS, as well as survivors of gender-based violence. She is a feminist gender activist and expert in women's rights, justice, leadership, and development. She initiated a movement of young women leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the support of UN Women. Anny focuses on promoting young people's economic empowerment, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and advocating for young women's leadership development and political participation. Anny has received recognition for her work, including certificates of merit from UNFPA and the Katanga provincial government and the StrongLady2018 Award. Among her many projects, she leads a group of exceptional women in quarterly dialogues with the DRC head of state to prioritize gender equality on the national agenda.
Jean Pierre Massamba is originally from the Republic of Congo in Central Africa. Former Magistrate and retired Executive of a multinational oil company. Guarantor of the Code of Ethics and Anti-corruption Focal Point within the Congo subsidiary of the company Eni SpA. Arbitrator and Mediator in business law. Human rights trainer. Former Secretary General of the Action of Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT Congo). Member of the Board of Directors of the Diocesan Commission for Justice and Peace in Pointe-Noire (Congo) and of the Board of Directors of the International Coordination for the Promotion of the Culture of Nonviolence and Peace. Coordinator of the Congolese Branch of IFOR (MIR Congo), Co-Vice-President of IFOR, Executive Director of the Africa Program of IFOR.
Evelyn Chihuguyu is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Kivu Province, city of Bukavu. She has a background in law and worked at the World Bank from 1998-2023. In 2015, she founded and became the President of Les Amis de Kamerhe (Friends of the Kamerhe) to support the fight for regime change and to end corruption as the majority of the population lived below the international poverty line despite the country’s vast mineral resources. In 2019, Evelyn founded and became the President of Kivu Rising, a non-profit organization engaging in social development and the alleviation of poverty in the rural areas in the Eastern Congo, which been suffering from the terrible consequences of war for nearly 3 decades. In 2023 she ran as a candidate for the position of National Deputy.
Moderator Bio
Matt Meyer is the author of numerous books on resistance and social change chiefly published by PM Press and Africa World Press. He is the Secretary General of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA), the Senior Research Scholar of the Resistance Studies Initiative, and a board member of the AJ Muste Foundation for Peace and Justice, and Waging Nonviolence. He is a member of the IFOR Africa Working Group and former co-chair of FOR-USA’s National Council.