Senior ONE Adviser Michael Gerson is on the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In this blog post, he writes about the benefits of cocoa crops on the country’s economy.
A farmer from the Greenhouse project in Beni separates raw cacao beans from an opened cacao pod to be washed, fermented, dried, and shipped.
We traveled down dirt roads near the town of Beni, in eastern Congo, close to the Ugandan border. Militias are active in the region, so our group was protected by an armed escort. Interactions at checkpoints along the road are unpredictable. In the town of Beni itself, a curfew is imposed each night at sunset.
ONE supporter Ben Affleck sure had a busy day in Washington! Yesterday, Affleck testified on Capitol Hill at a hearing about a bipartisan US approach to address the current problems in eastern Congo. He also sat down with ONE supporter Cindy McCain for an ABC News interview to discuss the current state of affairs in his organization’s work, the Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI) and what the US should be doing in the region.
Mrs. McCain, who recently signed on as a founding member of ECI, joins inaugural ECI supporters Howard G. Buffett, Humanitary United, Bridgeway Foundation, Laurene Powell Jobs and Google. ECI, an advocacy and grant-making initiative that works for and with the people of eastern Congo, tackles four main areas: support for vulnerable youth, support for victims of sexual violence, income generation projects and local peace and reconciliation programs.
Why the focus on Eastern Congo? Here’s a few facts from ECI’s website:
Since 1998, violent conflict, disease and poverty in the DRC have killed more than 5 million men, women and children –- that’s more than any war since World War II.
More than 1.3 million people have been forced out of their homes.
In 2006, less than half of the population of the DRC had access to clean drinking water or sanitation.
In some areas of eastern Congo, 2 out of every 3 women have been victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
In 2007, UNICEF estimated that 12,000 children were still involved with armed groups -– four years after the official end of the war.
Check out ECI’s website and be sure to watch the video in the player above.
As 2011 approaches, most Africa observers are buzzing about the highly-anticipated January referendum in Sudan, where the South Sudanese will vote on whether or not Southern Sudan becomes Africa’s first new state in nearly 20 years.
But a second vote is also on the horizon in 2011, in a setting that is equally troubled and just as critical to US interests: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Presidential elections (the second since the end of the civil war) are tentatively scheduled for November 2011, and local elections are being proposed for 2012 to 2013.
Earlier this week, Ben Affleck and the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) hosted a panel of DRC experts and influentials to draw attention to what they believe is a window of opportunity opening up in DRC. Mr. Affleck and Jennifer Cooke, CSIS’s Africa program director, were joined by Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs Johnnie Carson, Senator-elect John Boozman, former USAID mission director for DRC Anthony Gambino and Senator John Kerry for closing remarks.
Yesterday afternoon, I attended the National Democratic Institute’s global poverty panel at the DNCC. It was moderated by Gayle Smith, who’s a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
The speakers were:
Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State and NDI chairman Ben Affleck, actor, director, and advocate Nancy Birdsall, president of the Center for Global Development John J. Danilovich, CEO of the Millennium Challenge Account Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority Leader and Co-Chair of ONE Vote ’08 Hernando de Soto, president of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, vice president of the Africa Region of the World Bank Donald Payne, U.S. representative Tim Wirth, former U.S. senator, and CEO of the United Nations Foundation James Wolfensohn, former president of the World Bank.
Josh Lozman of our policy staff is going to be sending in a post about the panel a little later.
I also took a small camera with me and shot some simple video, so I’ll post a couple clips here to give you a sense of what it was like to be in the room. The 1st is of Senator Tom Daschle answering a question about his recent trip with ONE through Rwanda.
This second one is of Ben Affleck talking about his new perspective after having visited Africa- and what he thinks that new perspective means for how we should message effectively. After, President of the Center for Global Development Nancy Birdsall talks about the incredible progress we’ve seen.
Over the last year, I have been traveling to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an effort to learn more about the country.
I view this as a long and ongoing learning experience to educate myself before making any attempt to advocate or “speak out.” My plan has been to explore, watch, listen and find those doing the best work with and on behalf of the people of the DRC, in an effort to give exposure to voices which might not otherwise be heard.
It makes sense to be skeptical about celebrity activism. There is always the suspicion that involvement with a cause may be doing more good for the spokesman than he or she is doing for the cause.
I welcome any questions about me and my involvement, but I hope you can separate whatever reservations you may have from what is unimpeachably important about this segment: the plight of eastern Congo.
Anyone familiar with the Congo has heard the mind-numbing statistics: more than four million dead since 1998 (and many more before then), the most killed in any conflict since the Second World War. 1,200 people a day are still dying from conflict and conflict-related causes such as starvation and preventable disease.
The country languished as the second worst on the list of failed states until last year, when it bumped up a few notches (though it still ranks below Iraq and Afghanistan on many indices). (more…)
ABC Nightline followed Ben Affleck to the Democratic Republic of Congo where he shared his experience learning about the most savage war since WWI.
Below we have the full story, as broadcast on ABC last night, broken up into 4 clips.
More than 4 million have died in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the fighting continues today. As Ben explains, it’s a place where atrocities happen every day, but most people don’t even know.
Ben:
“This is my third visit to the region this year. I’ve been coming here to learn about the Congo because I don’t want to involve myself without first understanding what I’m getting involved in. Learning here means meeting with war lords (some accused of atrocities) spending time in refugee camps, talking with aid workers, meeting with those whose everyday is a struggle to survive. I’m not affiliated with any aid agency. I’m not any kind kind of ambassador. I’m not going to give you a history lesson. Among other reasons, I wouldn’t be qualified. I simply want to share what I’ve seen.”
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
