Congo, Democratic Republic of

Congo Elections 2011: violence flares

Congo Elections 2011: violence flares

By Ryan Worms in Kinshasa Kinshasa is tense. As I arrive Saturday evening, there is a heavy presence of state security and the police . Today is the last day of the general election campaign in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Political rallies were cancelled in the capital under the  orders of the city governor, ...

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À Kinshasa, en cette veille d’élection, les rues sont presque désertes

À Kinshasa, en cette veille d’élection, les rues sont presque désertes

Available in English de Ryan Worms, Kinshasa Dans quelques heures, les électeurs congolais iront voter. À Kinshasa, le président de la Commission électorale nationale indépendante, le pasteur Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, a réaffirmé que les bureaux de vote seraient ouverts demain à 6h00 du matin et que tout le matériel électoral serait prêt. Aujourd’hui dans la ...

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Caritas appeals for peaceful elections in Congo

On 28 November 2011, Congo held its second democratic election since a 1998-2003 war in which as many as 5 million people are estimated to have died. Despite a formal peace accord eight years ago, Congo still faces simmering conflicts with rebels in its east. Caritas Congo and the Church in Congo have been part ...

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The power of voting in Congo

The power of voting in Congo

The Congolese will go to the polls in November to elect a new president. The country held its first democratic election in 45 years in 2006 following a long conflict. The vote ran relatively smoothly despite fears of violence. Caritas Congo has met with other Catholic agencies from Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, the US, the UK ...

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Caritas launches a comic strip about violence and hope in Congo

Caritas launches a comic strip about violence and hope in Congo

Available in French Click here to read the entire comic strip In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), violence against women is a frequent problem. Rape has become a weapon of war in the country. In many instances, armed men will overrun a village, attack the inhabitants, rape the women, destroy crops and leave in ...

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Helping ex-soldiers in Congo back into society

Helping ex-soldiers in Congo back into society

“It will still take a lot of time and effort to build a stable peace in Congo,” said Guezing Kizinga, in charge of Caritas Congo’s disarmament, demobilization and socio-economic programmes for ex-combatants. “But slowly, the ideas and concepts of peaceful conflict resolution we promote through our peacebuilding workshops will become part of people’s ways of ...

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Q and A on Congo’s six million killed

Q and A on Congo’s six million killed

More than six million people have died as a result of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998. We asked Joseph Donnelly, Caritas Internationalis Permanent Delegate at the UN in New York, if the international community is closing its eyes?  JD: A multi-million dollar UN-peace keeping operation has been in Congo for 10 ...

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Caritas working to rebuild lives in Congo

Caritas working to rebuild lives in Congo

Caritas works in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by providing humanitarian relief to victims of the conflict through Caritas Goma. Life as a survivor of sexual violence In ten parishes, Caritas Goma has set up centres where rape victims can get help from psychologists. “The most important part of my work is to give my ...

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Caritas appeal for refugee crisis in North-West Congo

Caritas appeal for refugee crisis in North-West Congo

Caritas is providing humanitarian relief for 12,000 families forced from their homes by ethnic conflict in the north west of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo DR). The fighting is taking place in a remote part of the country. Over a hundred thousand people have fled their homes due to the violence. Caritas is helping ...

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