Democratic Republic of the Congo

In 2002 DR Congo emerged from a five year conflict, often referred to as “Africa’s World War” because of multiple countries’ involvement, which claimed millions of lives primarily due to disease and starvation. Despite a decade long UN peacekeeping operation (known as MONUC) and successful presidential election in 2006, DR Congo continues to be engulfed in multiple crises that cause widespread civilian displacements and suffering. Three quarters of Congolese people do not have access to adequate food and 54% lack access to safe drinking water. DR Congo also lacks basic infrastructure.

Violence intensifies this poverty. Since August 2008 fighting between government forces and various rebel groups has caused hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes.

In January 2009, DR Congo allowed Rwandan troops to cross its borders to pursue Forces Democratique de Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR) forces, one of many rebel groups that wreak havoc in the east. The joint military operation, which concluded in February 2009, resulted in the displacement of thousands. In a second effort in mid-2009, called Kimia II, Congolese forces joined with various rebel groups to again pursue the FDLR, but merely pushed many of them farther west, meanwhile displacing hundreds of thousands of additional people.

The attempts to control DR Congo’s lucrative natural resources by armed actors perpetuate the conflict. Illegal extraction of these resources funds armed groups and militias, thereby continuing the abuse of the Congolese people. The horrifying amount of sexual violence perpetrated by all armed groups is fostered by a climate of insecurity and impunity. Sometimes the rebel groups abduct children to sustain their forces.

The combination of violence, mass displacements, and lack of infrastructure creates a humanitarian emergency. MONUC and various UN and humanitarian agencies’ attempts to control the situation continue to be challenged by a proliferation of rebel groups and poor access to the areas most in need of assistance.

The willingness of international corporations to purchase minerals which are mined by forced labor in eastern Congo, smuggled into and through Rwanda, and sold on the world market through murky channels is a primary cause of the continuing state of chaos and impunity in eastern Congo.