Empowering Change: Adelphine Angemito and the Rise of Women Leaders in the DRC

In a region scarred by conflict, UCBC’s Gender Equity Officer is helping women in Beni discover their strength, reclaim their voices, and transform their communities.

Adelphine Angemito, Gender Equity and Advocacy Officer at Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo (UCBC) and a proud alumna, is focused on empowering women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to change the world. Based in Beni – a region deeply affected by a decade of conflict – Adelphine works at the intersection of education, faith, and gender equality.

She explains that in conflict zones like Beni, “women are the most affected. There are so many difficulties that they are going through but in general they are facing sexual and gender-based violence.” Though such violence has long shadowed life in Beni, Adelphine responds not with hopelessness, but with unwavering resolve. 

Her work is rooted in the mission of UCBC, a Christian university where committed Congolese visionaries are developing and nurturing a redemptive community of passionate young people. Guided by the belief that every life matters, UCBC equips students through high-level academic and formative education to become leaders who transform Congo through skill, creativity, dedication, and Christian hope. It is this transformative environment that shaped Adelphine’s conviction that lasting change begins within.

She looks at empowerment not as something that you give to someone, but as something you help others discover in themselves. This philosophy shapes her efforts to close the gender gap in a society where women have historically been left behind. By helping women see their own potential, she believes they can redefine leadership and reshape communities.

Her vision for the DRC is one where men and women compete and collaborate on equal footing. “My greatest hope is to see women very engaged in work … in leadership positions,” she said, stressing the importance of self-empowerment. 

For Adelphine, the fight for equality is also a call to courage. “We [women] can’t continue to look at ourselves as vulnerable,” she insists. “It’s time to leave our comfort zone, to see beyond our limit and to say, I can do it.”

Her conviction is simple but profound: when women choose to believe in their own strength, they don’t just change their own lives, they change the world.