Making Pain Visible: Raising Awareness of Communities Affected by Conflict

Sometimes, to understand pain, we must make it visible

Some realities are too painful to be reduced to statistics.

For several decades, communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have faced the devastating consequences of conflict and violence affecting their lives and communities.

During the World Diplomacy Summit , FIJADA chose to present a simulation of a particularly painful situation to help the delegations better understand what some families experience in areas affected by conflict.

This simulation was not a spectacle

It was an exercise in remembrance.

An exercise in awareness.

A call to look at human suffering beyond statistics, reports and speeches.

No mother should ever have to face the unthinkable.

No father should ever be forced into impossible choices created by violence.

No family should have to live under the constant threat of conflict.

Behind every victim is a life.

Behind every broken family is a story.

Behind every silence, there may be suffering waiting to be heard.

African youth cannot remain indifferent

Those involved in diplomacy cannot look away.

Sustainable development actors must place human dignity at the heart of their commitment.

Young African leaders must raise their voices in support of peace, justice and the protection of civilian populations.

Diplomacy must do more than bring States closer together.

It must also bring consciences closer together.

Peace cannot be sustainable when the suffering of victims is forgotten.

Memory is a responsibility.

Justice is a necessity.

Human dignity is a right.

A call for remembrance, recognition and justice

FIJADA calls for recognition, remembrance and justice for the victims of atrocities committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Preserving the memory of victims, listening to affected communities and defending human dignity must remain shared responsibilities.

The world should no longer remain indifferent.