Created in June 2003 in Kisangani, the Collectif des Femmes de la Province Orientale (COFE/PO) is a platform for women's associations in DR Congo. The organisation brings together 27 women's associations and more than 307 women's associations working in different fields.
For more than ten years the Women's Collective has been defending and protecting women's rights, training women in women's leadership, and women's participation in the management of public affairs.
It advocates for the representation of women in decision-making bodies in DR Congo and to play the role of mediators in community conflicts and conflicts between political and administrative authorities.
The COFE/PO has carried out several activities since its establishment in Kisangani. For example when it looked like the replacement of a provincial ministerial woman would be a man, the organisation lobbied the provincial governor who eventually appointed a woman minister.
In 2009 the organisation mediated between two political authorities (the governor of the eastern province and the president of the provincial assembly) who were in conflict.
In May 2016, COFE advocated for the integration of women politicians in the provincial government of Tshopo province. This government has 10 provincial ministers and no women.
Ongoing projects include training of women candidates on communication techniques; production of radio programs on citizenship and democracy, and women's participation in decision-making bodies; door-to-door awareness of the female electorate in the six municipalities of the city of Kisangani; and training of election observers.