Congo (Kinshasa)

Operation Amani Leo, launched jointly by MONUC (the United Nations Mission in Congo) and FARDC (the Congolese army) in January to regain control of mining territories in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu from rebels, while ensuring security for the local population has been extended to September. But Congolese women are arguing for changes in the conduct of military operations.

A month into my first trip to eastern Congo, site of the deadliest conflict since World War II, I had heard plenty of horror stories — from forced cannibalism to the burning alive of the inhabitants of entire villages. I was no longer easily shocked. But one exchange with an aid worker stopped me cold.

Suffering through the atrocities of war affects people in different ways. Some become crippled by anger, others by fear. Some become violent and want only revenge. And some, like Rose Mapendo, an inspiring survivor of the war and ethnic cleansing in the Democratic Republic of Congo, come out with a strong commitment to work for peace and reconciliation.

Three years ago, while Jolie Muhindo was returning from taking her exams in a city several hours away from her village, she was raped by the commander of an armed group. Since then she has been living with a host family in Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, one of the most unstable parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Global Open day on Partnerships for Peace in the DRC tagged “Women Perspectives in Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peace building in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)” was held June, 10, in the presence of the SRSG Alan Doss, the DSRSG Sarassoro, and heads of all UN Agencies present in the DRC, under the distinguished patronage of President Joseph Kabila Kabange.

Dr. Grace Kodindo speaks from the heart as well as her experience as an obstetrician in Africa as she describes the dangers women face in conflict zones, where reproductive and maternal health care is severely lacking and where rape is often used as a weapon of war.

There are signs of positive action to counter the culture of gender-based violence in Katanga province in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC.

Perhaps the most significant step taken in recent months has been the creation of a new police unit to protect young women and girls, which was officially inaugurated in the provincial capital Lubumbashi on April 21.

The United Nations Children's Fund urgently needs $14 million to respond to the most urgent needs of children and women in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a humanitarian update Tuesday, UNICEF says that armed conflict, violence against civilians, rape, forced recruitment of children into armed forces and major population movements continue to affect large areas of eastern DR Congo.

Annie was seven months pregnant when she lost her baby because "at least six men in military uniform" raped her in the Republic of Congo, after fleeing conflict across the border.

Like many other refugees from tribal fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Annie had fled to the Likoula region in the north of the Congo Republic, where the population of Nyamoba village has doubled from 1,000 to 2,000.