Congo (Kinshasa)

The conflict in the Eastern DR Congo provinces of North and South Kivu between the Kinshasa government and the M23 movement of mostly mutineers has displaced over 900,000 people, mostly women and children. Women Civil Society Organizations operating in the affected region now want both parties engaged in the Kampala peace talks mediated by Uganda's defense minister Dr.

It's a country the size of all of western Europe, with enormous mineral riches that enable the artifacts of modern life, from mobile phones and tablets to circuit boards and solar panels. It is also, by many accounts, the worst place to be a woman.

Women in Africa's Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are calling on President Barack Obama to lend resources and influence in putting an end to the brutal violence against women taking place in that country.

Sexual violence is on the rise as armed groups continue to move across the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) North Kivu Province, officials say.

The situation has been very tense at Panzi Hospital since the assassination attempt on Doctor Denis Mukwege that forced him to flee home in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for Brussels. In last week's radio show L'Afrique en Action, our correspondent Ernest Muhero visited the hospital in Bukavu to see how his patients and colleagues are coping. Here's what he found.

“What about the women who were raped who were depending on Dr. Mukwege's support?” pleads Faida Mutula, an expectant mother living in Eastern Congo's South Kivu province.

A Nobel-prize nominated Congolese gynecologist said on Tuesday he is too scared to return to his native Congo after an attempt on his life last month by armed men in one of the most violent parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"I can't guarantee my own security. As soon as I can guarantee I'll be protected, I'll be back," Denis Mukwege told reporters during a visit to the European Commission in Brussels.

When we read about the dangers of humanitarian efforts, typically we hear about threats against Americans. Equally critical and often overlooked, are the attempts to violently remove passionate local leaders who challenge the establishment.

More than one in three men surveyed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's war-torn east admits committing sexual assault, and three in four believe that a woman who "does not dress decently is asking to be raped", researchers have found.

Last week, coffee in hand, I read a chilling email. Armed men had shot at Dr. Denis Mukwege, a Congolese surgeon globally renowned for his work to help the survivors of sexual violence, right outside his home. The bullets missed Mukwege — but killed his security guard, Joseph Bizimana.

The news hit close to home.