Spotlight Report: ARSF in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Genocide Watch
- May 1
- 5 min read
ARSF's Efforts to Stop Genocide and War Crimes Against Congolese Women
By the Genocide Watch DR Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi Team
May 2025
The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) faces one of the deadliest humanitarian crises in the world. War in the DRC since 1996 has caused six million deaths, six times more than the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Among the most effective NGOs working to support Congolese women is Actions Pour la Réinsertion Sociale de la Femme (ARSF), a women-led grassroots organization dedicated to empowering women in DR Congo’s conflicts.
ARSF is one of the newest members of the Alliance Against Genocide. This report is based on direct correspondence and interviews by Genocide Watch’s Democratic Republic of Congo Team. It highlights the vital work of ARSF to support and protect vulnerable women and girls amidst rampant rape and war.
In an internal emergency alert to Genocide Watch, ARSF described the situation in the DRC as “catastrophic.” Since January 2025, over half a million people have been displaced in North and South Kivu, where ARSF is based. In 2025, tens of thousands of civilians have been killed and thousands of women and girls raped. Most internally displaced persons (IDPs) lack food, medical assistance, and safe shelter.
CODECO (a Lendu militia), Mai Mai, Islamist Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), Congolese Army, and M23 all use rape as a weapon of war. Over one hundred murderous militias roam the jungles. The ISIS-linked, Uganda-based ADF has massacred thousands, including 70 Christians in a church in Lubero in February 2025.
The civil war has caused economic devastation. ARSF says the large UN Peacekeeping Mission (MONUSCO) has failed to stop the vicious militias. Now even MONUSCO is withdrawing. Civilians—particularly women— remain trapped in a hellscape of displacement, starvation, mass rape, murder, and total insecurity.
In North and South Kivu, the Tutsi M23 militia, backed by Rwanda, has taken over Goma and Bukavu, the two largest cities. Women are routinely targeted by militias and Congolese soldiers for rape and sexual assault. Attacks since January 2025 have killed at least 7,000 people. Hospitals in Goma and Bukavu are overwhelmed.
Crimes against humanity and genocide against Congolese Tutsis are motivated by the same anti-Tutsi ideology and ethnic hatred that drove the Genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda. Congolese Tutsi cattle herders like the Banyamulenge and Hema are falsely portrayed as “invaders” who came from Rwanda or Ethiopia and took over the land of “indigenous” Congolese farmers in North and South Kivu.
The civil war is driven by greed for control of mines that produce sixty percent of the world’s coltan, a key mineral for production of cellphones. M23 has taken control of many of the coltan mines. Most of the coltan is exported through Rwanda.
The Gendered Impact of the Crisis: Women and Girls in the DRC
ARSF’s work highlights the gendered vulnerability faced by women and girls in this civil war. Women are excluded from most paying jobs to support their families. Women are excluded from participation in political decisions concerning security and reconstruction.
Psychological trauma inflicted on women by war and rape is severe. Survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) lack medical and psychosocial support. Male political authorities are often indifferent to the suffering of women.
ARSF’s Initiatives: Empowering Women Amidst Crisis
ARSF stresses the need for comprehensive efforts to address the needs of women and girls. ARSF has developed several programs to support and empower women in the DRC. ARSF provides livelihood programs that offer training in skills such as tailoring, soap-making, and embroidery to help women achieve financial independence. ARSF also works with investors to fund microcredit projects, giving displaced women access to small loans so they can start businesses and regain economic stability.
ARSF has also launched civic and electoral education initiatives that encourage women to participate in political processes, particularly in rural areas where their voices are usually silenced or ignored. To strengthen women’s awareness and skills in advocacy, ARSF has established literacy and advocacy centers where women can gain education and better understand their rights.
ARSF’s work focuses on peacebuilding. Through educational programs on conflict resolution and leadership, the organization aims to ensure that women are empowered to play an active role in shaping post-conflict recovery. Despite their frequent exclusion from formal leadership roles, women often play a crucial role in reconciliation after conflicts.
Women’s involvement brings perspectives that prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable members of society – women, children, the disabled, and the elderly. Women’s voices make stronger, more caring communities. ARSF’s initiatives do not just respond to immediate humanitarian needs. They seek to challenge systemic inequalities that perpetuate the patriarchal culture of violence against women.
Call to Action
In ARSF’s most recent emergency alert, ARSF issued an urgent plea for international financial support. ARSF emphasized that the war in the DRC is at a critical turning point. ARSF stressed the need for greatly increased humanitarian assistance, particularly for displaced women and children. Stronger protections against gender- based violence are needed, including law enforcement to arrest perpetrators. Survivors need better financial support to rebuild their lives.
ARSF highlights the importance of sustained funding for grassroots organizations. Local NGOs like ARSF are often the most effective at reaching impacted communities. But they usually struggle to raise money to support their programs. ARSF calls for rethinking international intervention, arguing that peacebuilding efforts should be led by local NGOs, not imposed by foreign organizations that may not adequately understand the needs of local communities.
At Genocide Watch, we echo ARSF’s strong voice for local programs. Based on our latest emergency report, we categorize the DRC as being at Stage 7: Preparation, Stage 8: Persecution, and Stage 9: Extermination in the Ten Stages of Genocide. These are the strongest indicators that genocide and crimes against humanity are imminent or already underway.
The time to act is now. Foreign governments, the UN, churches, and NGOs must recognize the gravity of the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We must take decisive steps to protect civilians, prevent further genocide, and alleviate the human suffering in the DRC.
Conclusion
ARSF’s work demonstrates that even in the darkest moments of conflict, grassroots organizations play a crucial role in resisting oppression, supporting survivors, and rebuilding communities. ARSF is one of the most effective Congolese organizations engaged in community-based action. But ARSF’s vital work gets little attention.
ARSF’s call to action is clear: women in the DRC must not be left to face this crisis alone. Instead of cutting off our foreign aid, retreating into our comfortable homes, and closing our ears to the cries of our sisters, we must raise our voices to the men in power in our own societies.
We should respond to ARSF, and empower the women, survivors, and community leaders who are best positioned to lead the Democratic Republic of Congo toward a just and sustainable peace.
