Congo
Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo 14 Nov 2008 – The International Rescue Committee’s water and sanitation team has been carrying out cholera prevention and response in war-affected North Kivu, seeking to limit the spread of the disease in high population centers.
“Cholera is endemic, or cyclical, in certain areas of North Kivu; but the most recent fighting and population displacement increased risk,” said Leon Tizie, IRC environmental health program manager.
The IRC has been responding to cyclical cholera since January; these activities were expanded in the first week of November, after widespread displacement in and around Goma.
VIA: IRC Responds to Cholera in Conflict-Affected North Kivu
—
Johannesburg, South Africa – Gen. Laurent Nkunda, the man laying siege to the eastern Congolese city of Goma, is full of contradictions. He’s a successful military commander, almost unbeatable on the battlefield, but he has almost no political future. He’s an ordained Adventist preacher, who court-martials soldiers who engage in rape; yet his military chief of staff is a wanted war criminal.
via CSM:
What does Congo’s Gen. Nkunda want?
The Christian Science Monitor : In Pictures The Congo’s Displaced
—
Eastern Congo is a place of vast wealth in land and minerals, and all sides have their hands in the pot—or in the mines or forests or in the slaughterhouses. Rarely does any side negotiate in good faith, which is perhaps understandable after 14 years of war. But in the past, the parties involved have proved responsive to diplomatic and military pressure—if it’s credible.
Via Slate:
Five Million Dead and Counting
—
via Huffington Post, Bukeni Waruzi
The Democratic Republic of Congo: “We’re on the Run Again
—
“With its bounty of natural resources, it could have been one of the world’s wealthiest countries. Instead, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been plundered and wracked with fighting. And if one rebel leader has his way, the government will be overthrown in this latest outbreak of violence.”
Via Foreign Policy:
Photo Essay: Cholera in a Time of Warr
