Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Since 1998, an estimated 5.4 million people have lost their lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in the deadliest conflict since the Second World War.

The situation

While DR Congo (DRC) is a country abundantly rich in resources, it has struggled to realize its full potential since independence. Decades of bad governance, interference from foreign governments, and brutal armed conflict have taken a devastating toll on the population, and this suffering continues today. One of Africa’s largest countries, with a population of 65 million, DRC is ranked in the bottom 10 countries worldwide on the Human Development Index.

• One in three children are not able to go to school, and most people do not live to see their 50th birthday.

The origins of the current conflict date back to the early 1990s, particularly the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, when both perpetrators and victims fled into eastern Congo.

• The violence has been fuelled by the illegal exploitation of mineral wealth, widespread lawlessness and weak state authority, and porous borders through which weapons flow with ease.

In 2009, the DRC government – backed by the UN – launched a military offensive in the east of the country, aiming to disarm the FDLR militia. The result was a massive surge in rape and killings of civilians.

• 900,000 people fled their homes over the course of the year, and thousands of homes were burnt.

In Northern Province Orientale, meanwhile, the Lord’s Resistance Army (the LRA) has terrorized communities for years and attacks increased again in the first two months of 2011 with more than 50 attacks involving pillages, murders, and kidnappings.

• More than 320,000 people here have fled their homes to escape the violence that has killed at least 1,400 civilians in DRC since 2008.

Donate

Please consider helping fund our emergency work in the DRC. These Oxfam affiliates are running direct appeals:

• Oxfam Germany
• Oxfam Japan

Alternatively, you can also make a donation to the general emergency fund of your nearest national Oxfam affiliate. Your money will be used to fund our emergency work worldwide, which includes responding in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

What Oxfam is doing

Oxfam concentrates on providing clean water and sanitation, and we work with community groups to promote good hygiene practices to help prevent diseases such as malaria and cholera.

Unlike in many large emergencies, the people displaced by violence tend to be hosted by other local communities, rather than in big camps. Oxfam works with these communities to assist more than 800,000 people affected by the conflict.

We will continue our lobby work at a national and international level to ensure that the people of the DR Congo get the support they need to return home and rebuild their lives.

Read more

Latest Oxfam survey on security in DRC: ‘We are entirely exploitable’: The lack of protection for civilians in eastern DRC

Story: Voices from the DRC: One man's dream of a better life

Photo gallery: Keeping civilians safe

Videos:

• Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Oxfam America, March 2009)
• Stop the Killing in the Congo (November 2009)

Updated July 2011