Cohen on Learning Tour in Rwanda, Congo with Humanitarian Organization

Press Release

Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) is on a learning tour in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo with Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ-10), Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA-7), Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, Randy Wade (Congressman Cohen's District Director), and others. The trip was organized by CARE -- a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty -- and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"This learning tour has been an emotional experience," said Congressman Cohen. "I saw how non-governmental organizations work in conjunction with USAID to prevent the spread of HIV, fight poverty and infant mortality, end violence against women, and help local health clinics in the region. Rwanda experienced the worst genocide since the Holocaust and has made great strides in racial reconciliation and forgiveness but the Congo still has a long way to go. As a member of the Helsinki Commission, an independent U.S. Government agency created in 1976 to monitor and encourage better relations between countries, I look forward to helping Rwanda and the Congo move forward on a variety of subjects including HIV prevention, infant mortality, poverty, and ending violence against women."

While on the learning tour, Congressman Cohen met with Rwanda Prime Minister Bernard Makuza, U.S. Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo James Entwistle and other high-level government officials. He also visited local villages, refugee camps, a genocide memorial center with a wing dedicated to the Holocaust, and hospitals and urban health centers that provide critical outreach to the region.

Congressman Cohen said he was very much affected by the lack of opportunity, particularly in the Congo, where there are many refugee camps for the displaced who have suffered from wars for the past two decades, which have left many without security, education, hope for the present and future, or a recognizable past. The Congressman also said he was impressed by the many Americans from USAID who are volunteering in both countries.

On the issue of women's rights, Rwanda presents a striking contrast to its neighbors. It is the first country in the world where women hold a majority in parliament. Women have overturned laws that prohibited them from inheriting land, passed new measures against domestic and child abuse, and made rape one of the most serious offenses to be judged in genocide trials. But in the Congo the struggle for women's rights is still very much alive. Unfortunately, the Congo is still very dangerous for women in the war-devastated country, where sexual crimes are committed by the military and rebel groups that are fighting over the region's vast mineral wealth.

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