March is a season to celebrate women. It’s Women’s History Month, and there is International Women’s Day on March 8th. In much of the world, the day passes as a social media moment. It’s a hashtag, a quotation on Instagram, a story from history, and brief acknowledgments before life moves on.
Things are different in Beni, the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are parades, lunch gatherings, special events, dancing, and music. And International Women’s Day carries a weight that goes beyond celebration.
Women of Hope parade through town on International Women’s Day.
Charline Wakine, a member of the 2024 NYOTA cohort, described what March 8th means:
This day is not a generic Women’s Day, nor is it Mother’s Day, nor simply a day for wearing traditional fabrics. It is a day for reflection, struggle, and mobilization in support of women’s rights, dignity, and participation in community development. In North Kivu, March 8th is a call to reaffirm our commitment to combating gender-based violence, supporting girls’ education, and building a society where every woman and girl can live in safety and dignity. For when a woman rises up, the entire society rises with her.
What I find remarkable about the women of NYOTA and Women of Hope is not that they pause to mark the occasion. They use the day as a launching pad to educate and serve others.
For example, NYOTA graduates led a training for medical personnel on supporting mental health. They convened a conference for civic leaders on protecting the rights of domestic workers. They organized a wellness walk, something rarely promoted in the context.
Women of Hope visited and donated food to women displaced by violence and to soldiers’ wives, two groups of women that society ignores. Women of Hope organized a conference on women’s empowerment and the promotion of positive masculinity. They participated in a march for nonviolence, that also doubled as a wellness opportunity.
Linda Etoy stands with two Provincial Senior Deputies; Senior Advisor on Gender, Education, and Health; Mayor of Beni.
The Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo (UCBC), our partner institution in Beni, held its own celebration under the theme, “Inner change and feminine vision: embracing new values to inspire sustainable empowerment.”
I didn’t know about International Women’s Day until I spent time in Beni. But between participating in events myself in the past and hearing how women are celebrating, I’ve come to appreciate the day’s significance. For women in Beni, and across Congo, International Women’s Day is not a celebration of what has been achieved. It’s a recommitment to what still needs to be done.
DONATE IN HONOR OF WOMEN WHO LEAD.
CAPTION FOR FEATURED IMAGE AT TOP: Medical staff conclude their wellness walk for International Women’s Day.
THE RIPPLE EFFECT
49 WOMEN.
9,000 LIVES CHANGED.
Top: UFEDOC conference poster. One of the many events led by NYOTA graduates that took place in March.
Bottom: Linda Etoy welcomes conference guests.
As Congolese women step courageously and confidently into the leadership roles to which they have been called, they effect positive change for others. They don’t wait for the world to change. They are the change. As the Impact Now 2025 End-of-Year Report notes, the 49 women who have completed the NYOTA program over the past two years have directly and positively impacted 9,000 children, women, and men.
NYOTA graduates are counseling survivors of abuse, teaching fathers about infant care, and helping young girls find their voices. They provide employment opportunities through the businesses they develop. NYOTA participants have initiated a private-public partnership to build a modern health center and facilitated collaborations that have strengthened support services for survivors of gender-based violence.
That is what your financial support makes possible. It’s not just one woman finding her footing, but thousands of others lifted because she did.