Despite international attention to the problem of mass rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo, U.N. officials, analysts and activists say sexual violence and the use of rape as a weapon of war remain prevalent in the eastern part of the country.

Hundreds of women recently marched in the eastern city of Bukavu to chant against rape.

Mrs Gifty Ohene-Konadu, NPP Member of Parliament for Asante Akyem South, on Thursday, called for massive support for women candidates in the impending district level elections, scheduled for December 28.

She said: "to vote for women is to vote for unity, progress and development."

A man accused of helping direct a campaign of severe war crimes and crimes against humanity in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo was arrested in France, 7 years after fleeing there to evade justice for his actions.

Government soldiers in the DR Congo have attacked and raped women in villages where rebels already committed mass rapes this summer, a high-level UN official has said.

UN peacekeepers in the Walikale territory have reported that army troops are committing "rapes, killings and lootings," Margot Wallstrom, the special representative for sexual violence against women in conflict, told the UN security council on Thursday.

Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Tuesday removed the last obstacle to start the trial against Congo's former vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Bemba, who was also a business tycoon, warlord, and senator, is accused of widespread rapes and sowing terror in the Central African Republic.

I've been working in the development field for a long time, and I've increasingly been frustrated by the way that when gender was talked about, it was always in terms of women. We talked about engaging men in reducing violence against women, rather than engaging them with their own issues. The underlying assumption is that men are still in positions of power and therefore they can't ever be vulnerable.

Recent research into the effect of mass rape on HIV in conflict situations has highlighted the need for better post-rape care services for affected women and girls.

The United Nations has put women at the center of its 2010 State of the World Population report, which says rape is increasingly used as a weapon of war.

The U.N. State of the World Population Report coincides with the 10 year anniversary of U.N. Resolution 1325, which aims to make women central to building peace in conflict situations.

The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) cautioned today that military operations alone in the restive eastern region cannot ensure long-term security in the area, stressing the need to build the capacity of the country's military, justice system and the police force.

Hundreds of women who were raped by rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) nearly three months ago now reportedly face the same abuse from Government troops, a senior United Nations official warned today.