Finding Voice: How NYOTA Teaches Women in the DRC to Speak Up and Be Heard

Speaking is not the same as being heard. And for women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the gap between the two can be vast.

Module 3 of the NYOTA Leadership Development Program, Communication and Advocacy: Finding Voice, is where participants often say something fundamentally shifts. It is the module that takes women from understanding their own leadership to practicing it out loud—in the presence of others, on difficult topics, across the social dynamics that have historically silenced them.

Module training in Beni.

The Cultural Context: What Speaking Up Costs

To understand why this module matters, it helps to understand what communication looks like for many women in Beni, DRC.

In a cultural context defined by strong hierarchies and expectations of deference, conflict is something to be avoided—not because women lack opinions, but because expressing disagreement carries real social cost. Women generally refrain from contradicting a man or questioning his authority. Challenging someone of higher rank, regardless of gender, risks relationships and standing in the community.

These norms are not unique to Beni. Research published by the World Bank on gender equality in the DRC notes that cultural barriers and gender norms significantly impede women’s ability to exercise voice, influence, and leadership—particularly in professional and institutional settings.

For a woman leading an NGO, managing a team, or advocating for her community, these barriers don’t disappear because she’s in a position of responsibility. She carries them into every meeting, negotiation, and public forum she enters.

NYOTA Module 3 addresses that reality directly.

What Communication and Advocacy Teaches

Over four weeks, NYOTA participants develop a specific set of skills that are as practical as they are countercultural:

Navigating disagreement without damaging relationships. Participants learn that conflict, handled well, does not have to fracture the relational bonds that matter deeply in Congolese communities. They practice speaking truth while preserving trust.

Speaking with conviction. It is not enough to have an opinion—participants learn how to organize, articulate, and deliver their perspectives in ways that are clear and persuasive.

Pitching a funding proposal. Participants practice the real-world skill of making a case to funders—structuring an argument, anticipating objections, and communicating impact.

Building an advocacy action plan. Each participant develops a targeted advocacy strategy for a specific issue and a specific audience. Because NYOTA participants work in NGOs, manage businesses, or are building entrepreneurial ventures, these plans aren’t hypothetical. They are applied to real work.

As NYOTA participant Sarah Kavira Mathe put it:

“This training is essential for women leaders. It is not enough to simply speak. You must learn to be heard, understood, and equipped to organize initiatives that address real problems in society.”

Confidence and Courage as Learned Skills

One of Module 3’s core convictions is that confidence is not a personality trait that some women have and others don’t. It is a capacity that grows when practiced in a safe environment.

NYOTA participants don’t just learn about advocacy—they do it. They pitch. They present. They practice navigating pushback. They do it in a room with women who share their context, supported by facilitators who take their voices seriously.

That repetition matters. Research on women’s leadership in Africa has found that while 86% of women aspire to develop as leaders, 47% are not satisfied with the leadership development available to them—and 32% identify socio-cultural expectations as the greatest barrier to women’s leadership across all sectors.

NYOTA’s Communication and Advocacy module directly addresses that gap—not by denying the cultural pressures, but by building participants’ capacity to navigate them skillfully.

The Ripple Effect of a Woman Who Can Advocate

When a woman learns to advocate effectively, the impact extends far beyond her own career trajectory.

Congolese women have long been at the forefront of community rebuilding, conflict prevention, and social cohesion—often without the formal recognition or institutional support their work deserves. According to research from the Orion Policy Institute, women in the DRC have consistently proven that sustainable peace and community development cannot happen without women’s leadership and inclusion.

When a NYOTA graduate knows how to make a compelling case to a funder, she can resource her initiative. When she knows how to navigate institutional conflict, she can hold her ground. When she knows how to build an advocacy plan, she can bring others along with her.

A woman who has found her voice leads with greater impact—not just for herself, but for everyone around her.

The Sequence Is Everything

Module 3 is not taught in isolation. It is the third chapter of a carefully constructed sequence:

• Module 1 begins with self: personal sustainability, boundaries, and time management.
• Module 2 builds leadership identity: exploring leadership models and the cultural forces that shape them.
• Module 3 turns outward: using the voice and conviction developed in the first two modules to engage the world.

NYOTA begins inward and moves outward. A woman grounded in her own sustainability and leadership identity is ready to advocate — not performatively, but from a place of genuine conviction.

Across the full NYOTA program, 63% of graduates have launched or significantly grown a community initiative within 12 months of completing the program. Module 3 is where the seeds of those initiatives are planted.

CAPTION FOR FEATRUED IMAGE AT TOP: Sarah Kavira Mathe