Since 1996, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has played host to the world's deadliest conflict since World War II.

• More than 5.4 million people have died from the ravaging effects of war and its aftermath
• 45,000 people die each month, mostly from hunger and disease resulting from the ongoing conflict
• Over 1 million people have been displaced
• Check out our fact sheet for more fast info (PDF)

Rape as a Weapon of War

Eastern Congo is caught in an epidemic of appalling sexual violence, as militias use rape as a military tactic to destroy communities. Congolese women and girls in particular bear the vicious brunt of this crisis. Indeed, eastern Congo right now is the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman or a girl.

Minerals Fueling the Fight

Greed for Congo’s mineral wealth has been a prime cause of the atrocities and conflict, and multiple armed groups use mass rape as a deliberate strategy to intimidate and control communities as they profit from the illicit trade in Congo’s conflict minerals – tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold. Many of these same conflict minerals end up in our own electronic devices such as cell phones, laptops, and digital cameras.

But Congo is not hopeless. There are solutions, and where there is hope there can be peace.