(Photo from the Enough Project) The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has historically been the focal point of devastating internal conflict since colonial […]
(Photo from the Enough Project) The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has historically been the focal point of devastating internal conflict since colonial […]
Current Political Crisis The Democratic Republic of Congo has been plagued with political instability ever since independence from Belgium in 1960. This instability has contributed greatly to widespread government corruption, due to limited mechanisms of accountability. In 2006, the first democratic elections were held in over four decades and Joseph Kabila, the son of former […]
The Trump administration has ordered a review of Dodd-Frank banking regulations with view to scale back its scope. This would include dismantling rules that require companies using ‘conflict minerals’ to disclose their sourcing and monitor supply chains.
Over 60% of the global cobalt supply comes from the DRC where a legacy of civil war, the persistence of basic forms of mining, and a weak state make ethical and transparent sourcing hugely challenging.
Joseph Kabila has decided to postpone elections in the DRC. In one of the most unstable countries in the world, the implications are serious.
In 2003, Henri Ladyi turned his back on the endless fighting in the DRC. Twelve years later he has been called “Africa’s Schindler” for his peacebuilding efforts in the eastern part of the country.
While the world focuses on the calls for partition by pro-Russian citizens in the south and east of Ukraine, similar calls from a small African nation are drawing less attention — despite horrific human rights abuses occurring on its territory. In what the U.N. human rights body and Amnesty International have called “ethnic-religious cleansing” between the […]
Mouvement du 23-Mars (M23) rebels fled their stronghold in Bunaguna, a small town in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on the border with Uganda, the rebel movement’s political leader, Bertrand Bisimwa, called for a ceasefire to end all hostilities. While fighting is ongoing, as Congolese government troops (FARDC) continue to […]
Last March, after seeing its nearly 20,000-strong peacekeeping force embarrassed by Congolese rebels in armed clashes outside of Goma, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) second biggest city, the U.N. Security Council decided unanimously to deploy 3,000 troops to act as an “intervention brigade” in the eastern part of the country. The intervention brigade was given […]
Incoming Chinese president Xi Jinping’s first trip as head of state took him to Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo late last month. His inaugural trip was much heralded back in China as an assertion of Beijing’s growing soft power, and its ability to develop friendly relations with resource-laden nations. Xi began […]
On Sunday, February 24, 2013, a regional peace accord was agreed upon in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by 11 African nations from both the Great Lakes region and Southern Africa in an attempt to finally end two decades of conflict that have plagued most sections of the war-riddled country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), particularly its mineral-rich eastern provinces. Appropriately labeled […]
“We must start from the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans.” This simple sentence came from a speech given by U.S. President Barack Obama in Ghana in 2009. Never has this premise rung more true than right now. As Africa faces imminent threats in several regional situations, the trend seems to be […]
As peace talks commenced almost a week ago in Kampala, Uganda, the prospects of a lasting agreement between the rebel group M23 and the central government in Kinshasa seemed more of a ‘pipe dream’ then an actuality. The Democratic Republic of Congo has been down this road a multitude of times in the last 15 years with […]
Yesterday in The Hague, the International Criminal Court (ICC) acquitted former Congolese Warlord Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui of all charges, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, in connection with the massacre that occurred in 2003, in the town of Bogoro. Ngudjolo was on trial for a host of crimes including rape, pillaging, murder, forced enslavement and […]
On November 20th, the M23 rebels entered Goma, the capital of the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — positioned on the border of Rwanda and the shores of Lake Kivu. By seizing the city with a population of one million people, the rebels struck their biggest blow since they mutinied […]