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Following the signing of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement in July 1999 between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and five regional States in July 1999, the Security Council established the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) by its resolution 1279 of 30 November 1999, initially to plan for the observation of the ceasefire and disengagement of forces and maintain liaison with all parties to the Ceasefire Agreement. Later in a series of resolutions, the Council expanded the mandate of MONUC to the supervision of the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement and assigned multiple related additional tasks. In accordance with Security Council resolution 1925 of 28 May 2010, MONUC was renamed as of 1 July the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) to reflect the new phase reached in the country.
Following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the establishment of a new government there, some 1.2 million Rwandese Hutus — including elements who had taken part in the genocide — fled to the neighbouring Kivu regions of eastern DRC, formerly Zaïre, an area inhabited by ethnic Tutsis and others. A rebellion began there in 1996, pitting the forces led by Laurent Désiré Kabila against the army of President Mobutu Sese Seko. Kabila’s forces, aided by Rwanda and Uganda, took the capital city of Kinshasa in 1997 and renamed the country the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
In 1998, a rebellion against the Kabila government started in the Kivu regions. Within weeks, the rebels had seized large areas of the country. Angola, Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe promised President Kabila military support, but the rebels maintained their grip on the eastern regions. Rwanda and Uganda supported the rebel movement, the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD). The Security Council called for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of foreign forces, and urged states not to interfere in the country’s internal affairs.
In 1998, a rebellion against the Kabila government started in the Kivu regions. Within weeks, the rebels had seized large areas of the country. Angola, Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe promised President Kabila military support, but the rebels maintained their grip on the eastern regions. Rwanda and Uganda supported the rebel movement, the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD). The Security Council called for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of foreign forces, and urged states not to interfere in the country’s internal affairs.
Raise Hope for Congo, a campaign of the Enough Project, aims to build a permanent and diverse constituency of activists who will advocate for the human rights of all Congolese citizens and work towards ending the ongoing conflict in eastern Congo.
Raise Hope for Congo and the Enough Project collaborate with national and local groups across the U.S., as well as local Congolese organizations, to build this grassroots movement.
First we must raise awareness about the crisis. The campaign provides activists with the necessary tools to educate themselves and their communities about the conflict in eastern Congo, the role of conflict minerals funding the conflict, and the effects of sexual violence as a weapon of war used against Congolese women and girls.
Raise Hope for Congo works with the Enough Project to write strategy papers drawing on field analysis and develop targeted policy recommendations for the U.S. government. The campaign also developed a company ranking system to educate and empower consumers to make more responsible purchasing decisions regarding conflict minerals.
The campaign works with activists to raise the profile of the Congo conflict in the media and demand that the media shine a light on this invisible yet catastrophic crisis.
We must speak out and demand action from our political leaders in the U.S. Raise Hope for Congo brings together the voices of activists to call for an end to the conflict and sexual violence in eastern Congo.
Raise Hope for Congo and the Enough Project collaborate with national and local groups across the U.S., as well as local Congolese organizations, to build this grassroots movement.
First we must raise awareness about the crisis. The campaign provides activists with the necessary tools to educate themselves and their communities about the conflict in eastern Congo, the role of conflict minerals funding the conflict, and the effects of sexual violence as a weapon of war used against Congolese women and girls.
Raise Hope for Congo works with the Enough Project to write strategy papers drawing on field analysis and develop targeted policy recommendations for the U.S. government. The campaign also developed a company ranking system to educate and empower consumers to make more responsible purchasing decisions regarding conflict minerals.
The campaign works with activists to raise the profile of the Congo conflict in the media and demand that the media shine a light on this invisible yet catastrophic crisis.
We must speak out and demand action from our political leaders in the U.S. Raise Hope for Congo brings together the voices of activists to call for an end to the conflict and sexual violence in eastern Congo.