Solidarité des Femmes de Fizi pour le Bien-Être Familial (SOFIBEF)

About the Organization Contact and Service Areas Successes and Impact Innovative Solutions for IPV Survivors’ Economic Security Survivor Leadership Understanding Economic Harm in Context

About the Organization

Country

Democratic Republic of Congo

Number of survivors served in a year

51 to 100

Languages

French

Groups most commonly served

Indigenous peoples, communities, or nations Rural communities Sex workers Women Youth, children, or adolescents

Type of organization

Nonprofit or non-governmental organization (NGO)

Program model(s)

Community-based financial initiatives Holistic crisis response Rights-based economic justice Survivor-centered income generation Systemic change through strategic partnerships Transforming social norms through community-building

Contact and Service Areas

Email

sofibef2012@gmail.com

Address

53, Avenue des pionniers, Quartier Kimanga, Commune de Kalundu, Ville d’Uvira, Province du Sud-Kivu, République démocratique du Congo

Service Area(s)

South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Uvira, Fizi, Mwenga, and Walungu territories)

Successes and Impact

“The first thing we’ve seen as a success with this approach to the socio-economic reintegration of women who are victims of sexual violence or IPV is that it has given them dignity. . . . Moreover, their active participation in community decision-making has helped them rebuild their sense of self—one grounded in recognition, responsibility, and respect.”¹

Addressing IPV through women’s cooperatives and increased income

SOFIBEF has trained over 120 women leaders to run grassroots savings cooperatives. Participants first access training to manage their individual income-generating activities (IGAs) and then are supported to set up a self-funded group. These groups create shared accountability because all savings are pooled and internal borrowing can be sustained without ongoing outside funding. Through participation in these groups, survivors strengthen their financial management and decision-making, which in turn bolsters their capacity to participate in economic decision-making in their own households.

SOFIBEF explains that access to income-generating activities has enabled survivors to support themselves and their children, boosting their sense of autonomy and self-esteem. Moreover, participating in savings and solidarity groups has helped survivors create positive social ties and given them a sense of belonging in the community. “When a woman begins to earn money in the community she starts feeding her children and paying school fees. . . . It’s this economic power that gives her a certain standing within the community, and this reduces the number of victims,” says the organization.

Supporting survivors’ access to land and inheritance

Each year, SOFIBEF accompanies 25 women pursuing land rights cases through the courts, providing support with legal fees and procedural needs such as land titles. By building a body of successful land rights and inheritance cases, the organization chips away at the factors that limit survivors’ economic independence and agency in their relationships. This practice also helps raise awareness within families and communities about the importance of addressing the intersection between gender-based violence and inheritance and strengthens accountability.

SOFIBEF notes the impact of this work: “Awareness-raising and advocacy campaigns in favor of their rights, particularly the right to justice and land inheritance, have enabled them to see themselves no longer as victims, but as agents of change. . . . Women themselves are beginning to take charge. They become autonomous and are no longer 100% dependent on their partners.”

Success in survivors’ legal right to financial reparations

SOFIBEF, in collaboration with other women’s rights organizations, played an important role in the advocacy that led to the adoption of a law in 2022 establishing a legal framework for the rights of survivors of sexual violence, including through financial compensation.² This law represents a major step forward in the Democratic Republic of Congo, notably through the creation of the National Fund for Reparations for Victims of Sexual Violence and Other Crimes Against Humanity (FONAREV).

The law aims to support and protect survivors’ rights by making the existing legal system more flexible and by engaging both the State and the broader society in GBV response. Thanks to concerted action by SOFIBEF and its partners, notably through awareness-raising among national authorities and the parliamentary work of a deputy from the South Kivu region³ in the National Assembly, a solid legal foundation for GBV survivors to claim their rights now exists.

Innovative Solutions for IPV Survivors’ Economic Security

“Emphasizing economic security, especially in rural areas, is a crucial strategy to combat women’s poverty, which is a fundamental cause of sexual and gender-based violence.”

About the Program

SOFIBEF takes a holistic approach to preventing and responding to GBV and recognizes economic security is a crucial foundation for this work. Their direct work with survivors addresses women’s exclusion from land inheritance, education, and patterns of early marriage and economic violence within households. They offer services such as savings groups within the Fizi, Uvira, Mwenga, and Walungu regions, trauma-informed psychological support, and comprehensive legal accompaniment. SOFIBEF’s GBV programming also addresses the root causes of GBV through awareness-raising, legal advocacy, and norms change with all sectors of society.

Program Development and Key Strategies

The organization identifies the following strategies as crucial to their program’s success:

Encouraging survivors’ economic stability and financial decision-making
Addressing the roots of harm and working with men

Encouraging survivors’ economic stability and financial decision-making

Local savings associations build economic autonomy and community investment

SOFIBEF starts by building survivors’ capacity to engage in an economic activity of their choice and then supports these activities through “economic interest groups” and financing for income generating activities (IGAs). The organization explains: “After capacity building, we have an approach we call a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA). There are different women grouped together in these associations who have different issues. Meeting several times gives the group cohesion and develops a culture of savings that is important to cultivate.”

After integrating into the groups, members undergo group and financial management training. These groups are ultimately operated independently, with members deciding on their own leadership team and SOFIBEF providing follow-up support when needed. An important aspect of these groups is that they do not run IGAs communally but support each person’s independent activity. SOFIBEF explains: “Outside these groups, each woman has an economic activity. The only thing that brings them together . . . is that they save and they have a common fund. . . . Some may be involved in small-scale trade, others might raise livestock, others farm, and so on. [Through this work] they will have things to come and save within the VSLA.”

One notable success is that many groups that initially began as VSLAs have now become formal cooperatives.

Developing secure alternatives to predatory microfinance institutions

SOFIBEF’s VSLA approach enables survivors to access microcredit in a community setting that offers opportunities to borrow and secure their funds, while avoiding formal microfinance institutions that can compromise their economic security through exorbitant interest rates and predatory financial practices. SOFIBEF explains, “This is why we have adopted the VSLA approach. It is now the survivors themselves who keep their money. It’s no longer the cooperative or a microfinance institution that holds it. VSLA members have the possibility of making daily transactions. A small amount [of funds] may be held in the account of a formal cooperative, but the bulk of the funds are granted in the form of loans to [VSLA] members. Providing loans in this way is also a way for survivors to keep funds among themselves.”

This approach allows survivors to make day-to-day financial decisions without depending on external microfinance institutions, thereby strengthening their long-term economic stability while maintaining community autonomy.

Increasing equitable participation in decision-making at multiple levels

SOFIBEF insists that equitable participation in decision-making in private and public spaces is critical for longer-term IPV prevention. The organization considers the patriarchal idea that men are the sole decision-makers as a core driver of IPV that impacts work, resource, and money allocation in households and society.

SOFIBEF strives to support survivors’ capacity through women’s cooperative structures and recognizes the importance of mobilizing the whole community to support the wider participation of women in institutions and decision-making. They note that, “Currently, women do not participate in certain institutions. When certain decisions have to be made, it’s the men who make them, and these decisions are usually only in favor of men. . . . We’re in the process of mobilizing women’s participation so that they are active in all possible areas.”

Addressing the roots of harm and working with men

Addressing the relationship between poverty, self-esteem, and IPV perpetration

SOFIBEF insists that IPV is itself often fueled by persistent poverty and the diminished sense of self that arises from unemployment. Through their work with men, SOFIBEF has identified that chronic unemployment and an inability to contribute financially to a household can be deeply frustrating for men, who may then resort to IPV to establish a sense of control. The organization notes that increased economic security can therefore be an effective mechanism for preventing IPV, in addition to providing survivors with the financial resources to stay safe from harm-doers. This deeper insight into the factors that may drive IPV influences SOFIBEF’s work with men. For example, men’s groups have shared the need for more vocational trades options and training, which can help reduce unemployment, increase men’s internal self-worth, and address IPV more comprehensively.

Working with men to address gender norms

SOFIBEF works in a context where men hold significant decision-making power within both homes and communities. To work effectively in this context, SOFIBEF developed what they call a “positive masculinity” approach, where male role models hold gatherings with male spouses to encourage shared decision-making and mutual respect in the household. The organization details their strategy: “There’s also a husbands’ club where we educate them and build their capacity regarding positive masculinity and gender. . . . That’s the success we’re building now, thanks to implementing an approach focused on positive masculinities.”

Educating and supporting men is part of SOFIBEF’s effort to change gender norms across society and ensure that survivors’ economic empowerment does not place them at increased risk of violence—which can occur if men do not accept shifts in gender norms that lead to women’s economic empowerment. To date, SOFIBEF has held over 100 community mobilization sessions and has led capacity-building workshops for over 90 military, political, and police authorities to raise awareness about gender equity and IPV from this “positive masculinity” framework in the regions of Fizi, Mwenga, Uvira, and Walungu.

Survivor Leadership

“At the grassroots level, we work with local structures in which victims of sexual and gender-based violence are members and actively participate in defending their economic and social rights.”

Committed to establishing survivor-centered organizations, SOFIBEF supports many grassroots survivor cooperatives to become independent entities. This also means ensuring that survivors are in key leadership positions, influence programs that impact them, and advise organizational leadership.

The organization regularly gathers feedback through listening sessions with both IPV survivors and executive management as a hybrid monitoring and evaluation team. Their regular strategic planning sessions also include survivors who can express their wishes and needs to ensure that they can be included in the new strategic plans. “Responding to the needs and opinions of survivors is considered very useful to promote their rights and make their dignity effective within communities,” says SOFIBEF.

Understanding Economic Harm in Context

SOFIBEF explains that they operate in a post-conflict zone. The eastern DRC experiences significant exodus to the city from rural areas where armed militias are active, and organizations can suddenly be inundated with requests for support. In this unpredictable environment, it can be difficult to support all survivors who are in need.

In addition to this complex political context, SOFIBEF notes that survivors’ experiences of economic harm and options for building economic security can be shaped by the following factors:

Denouncing harm through the legal system can put survivors’ safety at risk
Gender norms influence financial decision-making within households
Unreliable and predatory microcredit institutions can hamper survivors’ economic empowerment

Denouncing harm through the legal system can put survivors’ safety at risk

Survivors face violence when they try to obtain legal reparations

While SOFIBEF accompanies survivors through the court system, including for reporting IPV and accessing rights to land and inheritance, they caution that survivors who seek legal recourse can face conflict and death threats from harm-doers. Moreover, SOFIBEF’s staff face the risk of illegal arrest when reporting IPV. The organization explains: “When we accompany women to the courts in the different regions where we work, there are consequences—notably, intimidation that seeks to silence survivors and the advocates who accompany them. Sometimes, a man will divorce his wife without her consent [as punishment]. These are the consequences we’re currently experiencing.”

Moreover, despite progress with the adoption of a law and a fund to compensate GBV survivors and facilitate their access to justice through state subsidies and grants, implementation challenges persist, and survivors and the organizations that support them are still struggling to benefit from the fund in concrete terms.

Complex family dynamics present additional challenges for survivors

Denouncing harm through the legal system can be particularly complex for married or partnered survivors who live with their harm-doers, as they can be subject to additional conflict from their families. These risks have influenced SOFIBEF to provide more holistic support surrounding the legal process, such as helping survivors mediate with their families to mitigate consequences and create more economic autonomy.

Gender norms influence financial decision-making within households

SOFIBEF notes that gender norms can influence financial decision-making within households. The organization explains: “In the economic sector, it is usually men who take control of the money. Even if the income is brought in by the woman, it’s still the man who has control over it. Men keep the money and have the sole decision-making power over this money, and it’s always the man who decides the family budget. There’s no collaborative participation within the home.”

SOFIBEF’s programming aims to support survivors with both generating income and shifting gendered norms regarding household finances. Women’s savings groups are one of many methods of challenging household financial management norms. However, SOFIBEF notes that, given existing patriarchal norms, it is critical to also engage communities and spouses in efforts to support women’s economic autonomy. This is what can help power-sharing and joint decision-making take root within relationships and households.⁴

Unreliable and predatory microcredit institutions can hamper survivors’ economic empowerment

SOFIBEF has had to contend with problematic microcredit institutions, some of which have historically engaged in corrupt practices.⁵ For example, SOFIBEF has had microcredit institutions disappear with the organization’s money, noting that they “worked with microfinance institutions where we take our money and put it into a particular microfinance institution, such as a cooperative. As we continue along with our work, we realize that all of a sudden this cooperative has disappeared while our money was in their coffers. This microfinance institution has already promised the beneficiaries that they will have credit, for example, but then shortly thereafter we are surprised by the disappearance of this institution which suddenly closed its doors. This is quite a problem.” What’s more, some of these microfinance institutions demand exorbitant interest rates or guarantees before granting credit—something that most survivors SOFIBEF works with don’t have.

These challenges led SOFIBEF to develop its VSLA approach, which enables survivors to access loans and manage their own funds within a more informal yet communally accountable system that avoids dependence on often unreliable microfinance institutions. This approach strengthens the economic autonomy of survivors while creating sustainable mutual support mechanisms within communities.

Notes

Direct quotes are slightly edited for style and flow.
Loi n°22/065 du 26 décembre 2022 fixant les principes fondamentaux relatifs à la protection et à la réparation des victimes de violences sexuelles liées aux conflits et des victimes des crimes contre la paix et la sécurité de l’humanité [Law n°22/065 of December 26, 2022 Establishing the Fundamental Principles Relating to the Protection and Reparation of Victims of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence and Victims of Crimes Against Peace and the Security of Humanity], Journal Officiel de la République Démocratique du Congo [Official Gazette of the Democratic Republic of Congo].
The Honorable Misare Mugomberwa.
Selina Palm, Elisabet le Roux, Elena Bezzolato, Prabu Deepan, Julienne Corboz, Uwezo Lele, et al., Rethinking Relationships: Moving from Violence to Equality. What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls in DRC, Teddington: Tearfund 2019, https://learn.tearfund.org/-/media/learn/resources/reports/2019-tearfund-consortium-rethinking-relationships-en.pdf.
“Credit Access in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” The Borgen Project, January 31, 2019,
https://borgenproject.org/credit-access-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo/.