DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Activists fight to improve conditions for marginalised Pygmies in DRC

Record ID: 705070

  • Title: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Activists fight to improve conditions for marginalised Pygmies in DRC
  • Date: 4th September 2014
  • Summary: UNKNOWN LOCATION, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (FILE) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MAN AND GROUP OF PYGMY CHILDREN GOING TO WORK IN THE FIELDS VARIOUS OF CHILDREN WORKING IN FIELDS VARIOUS OF WOMEN WORKING IN THE FIELDS
  • Embargoed: 19th September 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Congo, The Democratic Republic of the
  • Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of
  • Topics: General,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA7B9S0J7T080QYUAJEZ84ZQSH7
  • Story Text: Pygmies are said to be the original inhabitants of the Congo basin in central Africa.
    But they are a marginalised community and the level of discrimination they face has only recently come to the world's attention.
    To try and shine a light on their plight, a local organisation recently held a protest march in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) capital, Kinshasa.
    "We have dedicated this day to the proposed bill that we handed over to the National Assembly in July this year, but also as a way to communicate with our brothers and sisters in Katanga province, who find themselves in a critical situation in relation to their social status because they are Pygmies," said Patrick Saidi, General Secretary of the Association of Indigenous People which also organised the protest.
    During colonial times the taller 'bantus' were treated as the superior ethnic group. Most adult pygmies are shorter than one and a half metres in height, and many have suffered the humiliation of being displayed in Europe because of their diminutive size.
    Pygmies still inhabit the basin countries of Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon and the DRC but most will have fewer opportunities than other children and will grow up fighting discrimination.
    The Pygmies say that they are misunderstood and discriminated against by other communities, who see them as primitive, second-class citizens.
    "The Congolese state has an obligation towards vulnerable groups and those in the groups who are disabled people, women, children and the albinos. But there are also Pygmies in that group who have been marginalised and discriminated against and are not taken into consideration in our country. They are not even politically included on the national level whether it's in the public domain or basic social services," said Saidi.
    For members of the Pygmy community living urban in areas like Kinshasa, trying to assimilate and integrate within the local community still has its challenges.
    Pierrette Soyi Sele, is the head of the Association for the Development of Pygmy Women in DRC, an initiative that seeks to facilitate the integration of members of the community while also helping them find ways to make a living.
    "I created this association for us Pygmy people, because we have been pushed aside and marginalised. The government does not take care of us. Whenever I go back to my village, it pains me when I see my parents who are suffering, and I am here in the city, where I am relatively better off than they are. But what kind of future do those who have stayed in the rural areas have?" she said.
    In DRC, initiatives promoting integration are rare. Said explained due to the level of discrimination and stigma, many Pygmies who live in urban areas try to pass for Bantus in order to be accepted.
    "The reality here in Kinshasa is that the members of the Pygmy community have integrated within the local population in Kinshasa. But that doesn't mean that Kinshasa has fully embraced this community. What it means is that their integration in this town is due to the fact they have rejected their origins and their identities. Because for the Pygmies to be able to integrate in the city of Kinshasa, they have to renounce that they are members of the Pygmy community," he added.
    According to government figures, DRC's population of Pygmies is around 600,000 while civil societies say the figure is around 2,000,000.
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