DRC: Africa’s Humanitarian Crisis
intern
By Miriam Welderufael
According to the Enough Project, over 5 million people have died and 45,000 people continue to die each month in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the Mineral Trade Conflict. This conflict is going on largely because Congo is rich in natural resources that we need in the electronics we use everyday.
If those deaths aren’t enough to get your attention, then direct your attention to the weapon of choice: Rape. Women are continually sexually abused and tortured due to the Mineral Trade Conflict—a conflict that we are fueling.
Former victims of Congo’s civil war.
Photo by United Nations
Development Programme
This is an ongoing tragedy that could have ended years ago and we should all know about it. More than a dozen filmmakers, journalists and celebrities have been spreading the word for over a decade, and yet, very little has changed.
Women are still gang raped. Men are still mutilated. Children are still forced to fight the war. They are all being tortured and left to die on a regular basis and we have had the power to stop this, but we haven’t.
Donations will not save the people now. It’s too late for that. At this time, money is not what they need and they are not even asking for justice because these things would be considered luxuries. They are asking for a solution to the violence and corruption and until they get that, they need protection.
Fortunately, there is something that can help. The Conflict Mineral Trade Act (CMTA) was created in 2009 to assist in breaking the link between the trade minerals and the human rights violations in the Congo. This Act would create a transparency so that, as consumers, we could make educated decisions about the products we buy and ensure that we are not helping fund the violence in the Congo.
More than your sympathy, the people in Congo need you to support and promote the CMTA. Raise Hope For Congo, a non-profit, is doing just that and is asking for everyone to join them on February 15-19 for Advocacy Days to Support the Conflict Minerals Trade Act of 2009.
This means hosting a screening of the 60 Minutes episode on Congo’s Conflict Minerals, having a meeting with or writing a letter to your Representative to Congress and also encouraging others to do the same.
The people in the Congo have been suffering for too long. We owe it to them to help by supporting the CMTA and becoming an advocate to end the trade of Conflict Minerals until the bill is passed and the violence has ended.
Related Resources
|
| Posted on February 11, 2010
Comments
Great blog and 100 per cent accurate. Keep blogging and spreading the word as WE the PEOPLE can help and change the lives of thousands or millions of women, children and men. Rape is their weapon of war.
Posted on 2010 02 18 by Sonya Melescu