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The Congolese people say their abundant mineral resources have been a blessed curse, which have bought nothing but war, violence and corruption to their country. Peace agreements for eastern Congo signed in 2007 and 2008 have been broken. All parties have committed acts of violence and abuse against civilians. This is the story of the people affected by the conflict and what they are doing to try to improve their lives.
The current conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has displaced more than one million people. Fighting between armed forces cause thousands to flee their villages and seek safety in refugee camps. The story of the Congo is complex but the effects of the on-going struggle are felt by thousands who live daily with the instability.
Producer, Helen Thomas journeys to the Mugunga II refugee camp, a few kilometres west of Goma, the main city centre in the east of the Congo. She's come to the camp with members of a local non-government organisation that helps women in the Congo.
The landscape of Goma has been scarred by the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano seven years ago. Here at the refugee camp, cemented-lava spreads across the entire site. The refugees' huts are made of sticks and plastic and are built on a foundation of sharp stones covered only with blankets.
The fighting in the eastern Congo is affecting everyone. But girls and women are the most vulnerable here. Human rights groups say they've never found as many victims of rape in conflict situations as they've found in the Congo.
Armed forces are legally bound to stop rape and punish soldiers for such crimes but no one is held accountable here. All the armed groups, including the Congolese army itself, are accused of committing massacres, torture and rape of women and children.
The current conflict in the Congo is occurring in North and South Kivu, along the country's eastern border. It has its roots in the war of 1998 to 2003 - the largest war in modern Africa. This deadly conflict saw almost four million people lose their lives, most died from disease and starvation caused by the war. Even though the war officially ended in 2003, fighting continues and it's believed 45,000 people are dying every month.
The eastern part of the country borders Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi and this is where most of the Congo's resources can be found: copper, diamonds, gold, manganese, uranium, zinc and the world's biggest reserves of cobalt and coltan, a rare metal used in mobile phones and laptops.
Hundreds of millions of dollars leave the country from the mining of these minerals and Australian companies are among those who benefit. The irony is that despite the abundance of natural wealth found here, the Congo remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.
A man who claims to be
fighting for the rights of Congolese people and for the future
development of the Congo, is General Laurent Nkunda. Until recently,
Nkunda was leader of the multi-ethnic rebel army group, Conseil
National pour la Défense du Peuple.
Helen Thomas and an
American journalist colleague were the last reporters to interview
Nkunda before he was apparently lured into Rwanda and arrested for war
crimes allegedly committed in 2004. The Congolese Government has been
trying for many years to capture Nkunda and break the strong-hold of
the CNDP in the east. Like everything in Congolese politics, there are
many versions of the story of Nkunda's so-called arrest.
Back in Goma, Helen and her colleagues are taken to a local medical centre. Health care in the Congo is severely under-funded. This medical centre receives no funding from the government and relies on patient fees to stay open. But given that most of its patients can't afford to pay for healthcare, it's severely lacking in the medical equipment needed to offer a proper healthcare service. Patients are transferred to the government hospital for emergencies but the doctor says it also is poorly funded.
The medical centre works in conjunction with their translator Omer's organisation, the Action for the Promotion of the Midwives. The doctors and midwives work together to encourage rural women to come to the medical centre to give birth. Not only are they battling the affects of war but maternal and infant mortality rates that are among the highest in the world. AIDS decimates the country.
Omer's organisation has trained 102 midwives since it began in 2001. The midwives work in the refugee camps around Goma and travel to remote villages, often walking ten, twenty, sometimes thirty kilometres, to reach the women. They work with the constant threat of rape.
What everyone in this story hopes for is simply peace.
Story Researcher and Producer
Helen Thomas
