Fact Sheet
Congo, DRC is situated at the heart of west-central sub-Saharan Africa and is the third largest country on the African continent. Congo is rich in diverse natural resources such as diamonds, timber, gold, copper, cobalt and holds about 80% of the world coltan reserve. Although, the country is endowed with vast potential wealth, the economy has drastically declined since the mid 1980’s. Mobutu Sese Seko, President of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) for 32 years (1965–1997), began to loose his grip on power. Following the Rwandan genocide in 1994, Mobutu provided shelter and protection not only to the two million Rwandan refugees who had fled to eastern Congo, but also provided a safe haven for the Rwandan Hutu army and militias that had directed the genocide. This provoked Rwanda and Uganda to invade Congo in July 1996 in pursuit of the Hutu military forces. The ailing Mobutu was finally ousted from Kinshasa in May 1997 and Congolese rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila took over the country.
Congo’s loss is equivalent to the entire population of the state of Colorado perishing within a decade. The Shitowa Foundation will concentrate its original efforts in the Congo, DRC. The post-war crisis is calling for immediate attention and action. Ten of thousands of women and girls are victims of appalling sexual violence daily and have nowhere to go find help. Congo right now is the worse place to be a woman or a girl. Girls as early as 3 year-old and women as old as 72 year-old are raped. It is a war against women and girls. Rape is used as a weapon of war to destroy communities and humiliate a nation. Civilians are under serious attack and are exterminated by thousands. This is a case of genocide in Congo. The foundation will combine efforts and gather necessary resources to respond to this crisis. |
Conflict and humanitarian crisis in Congo DR have taken the lives of an estimated 5.4 million people since 1998 and continue to leave as many as 45,000 dead every month. Over 1 million people have fled their homes and 250,000 have been displaced since August 2008. Over 200,000 women and girls have been raped since the beginning of the conflict. The ongoing strife of war, famine, poverty and disease continue to take a staggering toll making this war the world deadliest conflict since World War II.