Conflict has plagued Congo since 1997. Since then, seven million people have been killed and two million displaced. Recent violence between the rebel group the M23 and the national army has wreaked havoc on North Kivu since November 2012, causing yet another influx of refugees into the Goma region.

Centre de Paix pour la Guérison et la Reconstruction des Bases Communautaires (CPGRBC), or the Peace Center for Healing and Rebuilding of Grassroots Communities, was founded in 2008 as one of the  ways  to respond to inter-ethnic conflicts in the province of North Kivu. CPGRBC  advocates for peoples’ rights and equality, discouraging oppression and discrimination. CPGRBC intervenes in peace building by involving and encouraging communities to look for local solutions for their problems, thereby resolving their own conflicts.

Mission: To mobilize the local communities of North Kivu to build a peaceful and nonviolent society and create space for dialogue and exchange among different ethnic groups.

Vision: We hope to have a peaceful and stable province where different ethnic groups live and work together for development without discrimination or exclusion.

Our work is inspired by the principles of love, forgiveness, respect of human dignity, neutrality and transparency, dialogue and truth, patience, respect of diversity/differences in others, and nonviolence.

CPGRBC works in Masisi, Goma, Ruthsura, and Walikale on various peacebuilding programs such as conflict transformation, transformative mediation, community reconciliation, capacity building, community development, life skills and literacy training, and micro-credit projects. Most significantly, CPGRBC has facilitated the formation of over 70 peace committees around the region, and provided extensive psychosocial community support by conducting trauma healing trainings and listening sessions.

While much of our programing targets entire communities, some of our programs specifically target the most vulnerable: rape victims, conflict affected women, and IDPs.