The Democratic Republic of Congo

1. The Democratic Republic of Congo By Fraser, Kathryn and Tom The country was first formed as a Belgian Colony in 1908; it gained its independence in 1960.Thecountry changed its name from Zaire in 1997. The Congo has faced many political and social problems, in the 1990s the influx of Rwandan refuges caused yet more instability with the over throw of the dictator at the time The Congo is about a quarter of the size of the USA. Like some African countries the Congo has a HIV/AIDS problem, 1.1 million people in the Congo have AIDS, it is estimated that about 5% of the total population carries the virus. The average life expectancy in the Congo is only 54 years. The population of DR Congo is about 66,514,504 (July 2008). The country is also marred with corruption at all levels. Despite this the DR Congo is a very beautiful country. The main exports of Congo are diamonds, coffee, rubber, copper and crude oil.

2. Social, Economic and Political Needs • Social • Better education and healthcare • UNESCO is currently working to encourage governments to establish education systems which are compulsory for all. This has increased the enrolment of girls by up to 300% in some areas. • UNICEF is now currently trying to improve healthcare in Africa by working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to set up medical facilities such as immunisation and establishing health centres. • Improved agriculture • The FAO has been helping African countries for the past few years to deal with improving land which has suffered from disasters such as droughts. • Controlled population • At the moment, there is no organisation dealing with controlling the population, but this is needed as debt is already out of control in DR Congo and a bigger population would only increase the amount owed. • Economic • Debt cancellation • Norway have agreed to cancel £13.5 million of debt owed to them by the Democratic republic of Congo. • More stable growth • Better terms of trade • More economic development • Many governments are ending their involvement in tied aid to try and boost African countries economies • Political • Ban on sale of weapons • A ban on sale of weapons would decrease conflict in the country. • Effective peace

3. How Has The Country Been Helped? • There are lots of charities and organisations helping the Democratic Republic of Congo. • The International Rescue Committee has provided healthcare and emergency aid since 1996. • The UN has sent aid for people affected by the fighting in Congo. In recent years they have provided healthcare, food aid and in some instances they have transported people out of the country who have been affected by violence. • The Red Cross has been providing aid to Congo for 10 years. They have provided healthcare and providing the basics like shelter, clothing and food. Also they have sent out search parties to look for family members of people who have been displaced by conflict. • UNICEF have also been providing aid but have been supplying a different kind of aid. They have been helping people affected by HIV/AIDS and have helped more than 1,000,000 AIDS orphans. They have provided shelter for them as well as paying for school fees. • Some organisations believe more can be done to aid those in the Congo. Aid is also being given to the country outside its borders, with groups and organisations campaigning and requesting that the government send more aid to DR Congo and other African countries in a similar situation like Sudan and Darfur.

4. Conflict in the Congo. An estimated 250,000 civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo have fled their homes and are living in desperate conditions following the latest outbreak of violence in the eastern part of the country. What is the conflict about? For years, fighting has been fuelled by the country's vast mineral wealth. The countries have been at unrest since 2003 when ‘Africa’s world war‘ broke out over the Congo's mineral wealth. The CNDP is the Tutsi rebel army. They are fighting the FDLR, Hutu and other pro government militia. Why has the fighting broken out again? It is not entirely clear, but General Nkunda has said he is fighting to protect his Tutsi community from attack by Rwandan Hutu rebels based in DR Congo, some of whom are accused of taking part in the 1994 genocide. More Corruption Both Governments have been accused by the UN of supporting the conflict. But the country's poorly paid and ill-disciplined army is unable to secure the east, where numerous different armed groups operate. Both sides are accused of using child soldiers