Congo Speaks to the World | From Survival To Governance

Julienne Lusenge, Executive Director of the Congolese Women's Fund and one of the Democratic Republic of Congo's most prominent international advocates, addresses lawmakers at the Parliament of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain, date unspecified (archive).

Speaking with characteristic passion and precision, Lusenge brings before a European legislative body the devastating reality of sexual violence used as a weapon of war in eastern DRC a crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of victims over more than three decades of conflict.

Named among Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in 2024 and honored by Amnesty International and the United Nations, Lusenge has made it her mission to ensure that the suffering of Congolese women generates not only sympathy but concrete political action, legal accountability, and sustained international solidarity from governments and institutions around the world.