Sowing Cohesion | From Survival To Governance

Portrait of Rachel Malulu coordinator of FUDEI (Femmes Unies pour le Développement Endogène et Intégral), plant and water seedlings along a street median in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, on February 21, 2026.

A representative of UWEMA Asbl DRC "La Voix de l'Espoir" is visible in the background, reflecting the collaborative spirit that defines grassroots peacebuilding in North Kivu, where civil society organizations pool their limited resources to create visible, tangible change.

For Malulu, the act of women kneeling together in the soil of Goma's streets watering, planting, tending carries a meaning that extends far beyond horticulture: it is a reclaiming of public space, a restoration of dignity, and a message to a conflict-weary city that its women refuse to surrender its streets to violence and neglect.