A Voice For the Voiceless
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Walter James and Arche d’Alliance
School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland
Walter Y. James will be an Advocacy Project Peace Fellow in the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He will work with AP partner Arche d’Alliance, an organization working to defend human rights and promote positive conflict transformation in the troubled regions of Uvira and Sud Kivu Province. He will be in the DRC from June through August.
A crucial part of Arche d’Alliance’s work is in advocating for the women and children of Eastern Congo that have been victimized by violence. The Eastern Congo has been beset by decades of civil war and human rights violations, and since 2006 there have been over one million refugees displaced from the region of North Kivu alone. These conflicts have had a particularly devastating effect on the lives of women, children, and other marginalized groups. Providing a voice is an important first step to ending the fear of sexual violation, mutilation, slavery, and violence. Additionally, providing education and peaceful conflict resolution is critical to empowering the people of the Congo to end the cycle of brutality.
Walter will be taking action with Arche d’Alliance and local communities to reach out to the international community through web development and networking. He will be working with numerous community groups to increase their visibility and make sure that their suffering is not forgotten.
Walter is a 2006 graduate of the University of Minnesota, receiving a BS in Biology and a BA in French. As an undergraduate he studied abroad in Senegal and Costa Rica. In Senegal, Walter was an intern with the World Conservation Union in the Sine-Saloume river delta region.
Walter gained additional development experience working for Haiti Outreach, an NGO specializing in community-based water projects across Haiti. For a year and a half Walter lived in rural Haiti, working on community organizing and project development. He is currently a first year MPP graduate student at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, specializing in international development.
Ever since he became involved with humanitarian issues, Walter has wanted to work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is very excited to be working with AP and Arche d’Alliance this summer.
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