UN Archives - TalkAfrique

May 31, 2011

Higher Density Means World Forests Are Capturing More Carbon, News Release

University of Helsinki, Finland and Rockefeller University, USA

Study challenges carbon storage measurements based on forest area;

Several national increases of density and / or area signal “The Great Reversal”

is underway in forests globally after centuries of loss and decline

Forests in many regions are becoming larger carbon sinks thanks to higher density, US and European researchers say in a new report.

In Europe and North America, increased density significantly raised carbon storage despite little or no expansion of forest area, according to the study, led by Aapo Rautiainen of the University of Helsinki, Finland, and published by the online, open-access journal PLoS One.

Even in the South American nations studied, more density helped maintain regional carbon levels in the face of deforestation.

The researchers analyzed information from 68 nations, which together account for 72% of the world’s forested land and 68% of reported carbon mass. They conclude that managing forests for timber growth and density offers a way to increase stored carbon, even with little or no expansion of forest area.

“In 2004 emissions and removals of carbon dioxide from land use, land-use change and forestry comprised about one fifth of total emissions. Tempering the fifth by slowing or reversing the loss of carbon in forests would be a worthwhile mitigation.

The great role of density means that not only conservation of forest area but also managing denser, healthier forests can mitigate carbon emission,” says Mr. Rautiainen.

Co-author Paul E. Waggoner, a forestry expert with Connecticut’s Agricultural Experiment Station, says remote sensing by satellites of the world’s forest area brings access to remote places and a uniform method. “However, to speak of carbon, we must look beyond measurements of area and apply forestry methods traditionally used to measure timber volumes.”

Says co-author Iddo Wernick of The Rockefeller University’s Program for the Human Environment: “Forests are like cities – they can grow both by spreading and by becoming denser.”

The authors say most regions and almost all temperate nations have stopped losing forest and the study’s findings constitute a new signal of what co-author Jesse Ausubel of Rockefeller calls “The Great Reversal” underway in global forests after centuries of loss and decline. “Opportunities to absorb carbon and restore the world’s forests can come through increasing density or area or both.”

To examine how changing forest area and density affect timber volume and carbon, the study team first focused on the United States, where the US Forest Service has conducted a continuing inventory of forest area, timberland area, and growing stock since 1953.

They found that while US timberland area grew only 1% between 1953 and 2007, the combined national volume of growing stock increased by an impressive 51%. National forest density increased substantially.

For an international perspective, the research team examined the 2010 Global Forest Resources Assessment compiled by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which provides consistent figures for the years 1990-2010.

The data reveal uncorrelated changes of forest area and density. Countries in Africa and South America, which lost about 10% of their forest area over the two decades, lost somewhat less carbon, indicating a small rise in forest density.

In Asia during the second decade of the study period, density rose in 10 of the region’s 21 countries. Indonesia’s major loss of density and sequestered carbon, however, offset any gain in carbon storage in other Asian nations.

Europe, like the US, demonstrated substantial density gains, adding carbon well in excess of the estimated carbon absorbed by the larger forested area.

Says study co-author Pekka Kauppi, of the University of Helsinki, Finland: “With so much bad news available on World Environment Day, we are pleased to report that, of 68 nations studied, forest area is expanding in 45 and density is also increasing in 45. Changing area and density combined had a positive impact on the carbon stock in 51 countries.”

Finnish forest - then and now (Photo credit : I.K. Inha & K.A. Ennola

April 14, 2011April 14, 2011

Côte d’Ivoire stand-off Over But Humanitarian Crisis Continues, UN and Partners Warn

14 April 2011 –Although the political stand-off in Côte d’Ivoire ended earlier this week, the humanitarian crisis spawned by months of violence continues, United Nations agencies and their partners stressed today as they appeal for $160 million to scale up aid to affected populations inside the country.

Today’s appeal represents a five-fold increase over the $32 million initially sought by aid agencies in January at the onset of the humanitarian crisis stemming from the fighting that ensued after Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down after he lost the UN-certified presidential run-off election last November to Alassane Ouattara.

Mr. Gbagbo finally surrendered on Monday after more than four months of turmoil in the West African nation. UN aid officials have estimated that up to 1 million Ivorians have been displaced by the violence, with some internally displaced and others forced to flee into neighbouring countries – particularly Liberia, which is hosting 135,000 Ivorians.

“The humanitarian crisis is not yet over,” said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Côte d’Ivoire, Ndolamb Ngokwey. “All across the country, it will take many months to restore people’s dignity and rebuild livelihoods.

“Aid agencies will be here as long as it will take but we need to start now. We are asking for only $74 for each person affected,” he stated.

The $160 million appeal aims to provide food security, nutrition, education, protection, water, health care and sanitation to as many as two million people throughout Côte d’Ivoire. It will also allow UN agencies and non-governmental organizations, to significantly scale up relief programmes, notably in the commercial capital of Abidjan and in the west.

The appeal also seeks funding for aid to the north, an area that has received little attention during the past four months, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Humanitarian agencies have also appealed for $146 million to address the needs of the Ivorians who have sought refuge in Liberia.

Meanwhile, the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) reports that the security situation in Abidjan is improving. In addition, water, electricity, and basic services have been restored in some areas, and businesses are re-opening and traffic is returning to the streets.

“I would not be surprised to see that cars, taxis will emerge increasingly in large numbers by the end of the week,” said Y. J. Choi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of UNOCI. “We will help encourage people to leave their homes and resume their activities,” he added.

In an effort to do just that, the mission organized a peace parade today in which a caravan of dozens of cars drove through the main streets of Abidjan to mark the improved security situation there.

Mr. Choi, who took part in the event, did acknowledge that some districts of the city were not yet secure, noting for example that there is still sniper fire in Yopougon. He also pledged that UNOCI will continue to help Côte d’Ivoire meet the challenges it faces.

Hamadoun Touré, spokesperson for UNOCI, said that Abidjan had seemed like a ghost town for the past several weeks. “People were scared to go out while they were short of basic needs like food, water and medicine,” he told the UN News Centre.

“It [the parade] is a signal to encourage them to try and lead a normal life,” he said, adding that this was the right time to hold such an event since fighting has ended in the city and the post-electoral crisis has reached a turning point with the capture of Mr. Gbagbo.

UN News Center

April 4, 2011April 4, 2011

Oil vs.Ccocoa: Why Ivory Coast Isn’t Like Libya

Barry Neild (CNN)

Violence is escalating in the west African nation of Ivory Coast, where president-elect Alassane Ouattara is trying to oust incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to leave office after losing an election.

But the international response — limited to a U.N. peacekeeping force already deployed there — has paled by comparison with the U.S. and NATO air strikes targeting forces to Moammar Gadhafi in Libya to prevent attacks on rebels and civilians.

Read an explainer on the situation in Ivory Coast

Nigeria’s foreign minister last month accused the West of hypocrisy in its reactions to the two crises, lashing out at the “contradictions” of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya but failing to to take action to protect civilians in Ivory Coast.

This raises questions about the strategic factors that have influenced the international response to the turmoil facing both countries.

Are there any similarities to the situation in Libya?

Analysts say that there are sharp differences in the problems facing the two countries, with Ivory Coast’s problems evolving over a period of years before coming to a boil in recent weeks compared to Libya’s relatively recent turmoil. But, they say, there are humanitarian concerns over the violence in both countries.

“The two conflicts are very separate, but what is similar is the potential threat to the civilian population,” says Phil Clark, a lecturer in Comparative and International Politics at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, who points out that global intervention in both countries has been focused on protecting hundreds of thousands of people at risk rather than on regime change.

But, says Gilles Yabi, a West Africa analyst with the International Crisis Group, the situation on the ground is vastly different with Gbagbo — who the United Nations and the United States have urged to stand down — having no access to planes and helicopters like those initially deployed by Gadhafi. “We have to be quite prudent about making comparisons,” he said.

What are the differences in international response?

Again there are similarities, with both situations prompting U.N. Security Council resolutions mandating international military intervention, albeit on different scales. In Libya, aircraft were deployed to attack Gadhafi’s air defenses and to protect opposition rebels and civilians from government troops.

In Ivory Coast, extra troops were authorized earlier in the year increasing the size of the U.N. peacekeeping force to 11,000, while France has dispatched 300 military personnel.

Tom Cargill, an Africa expert at the Chatham House think tank, says U.N.-sanctioned air strikes in the Ivory Coast conflict are unlikely. “The situation has moved quickly with the rebels moving into built up areas, so there hasn’t been time to get a mandate from the U.N., but because they are in built-up areas, that kind of intervention probably won’t be something air forces would consider.”

Why are there differences?

Analysts disagree on the reasons. Cargill says the two cannot be compared since Ivory Coast has endured years of crisis and a sustained international engagement aimed at finding a political solution. Others like Clark point to more strategic factors, not least that fact that Western countries feel over-stretched by Libya and are unwilling to commit to the same level of action in Ivory Coast.

“I think Libya has in a sense, acted as a kind of deterrent to collective action,” says Knox Chitiyo, head of Africa program at the UK’s Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.

“In terms of escalation [Ivory Coast] has been unfortunate in terms of timing as the world’s attention has been focused on the Middle East and particularly Libya, so the Ivory Coast, which has been a slow-burning crisis, fell of the radar.”

Is oil a factor?

Yes, say some analysts. As a major oil producer, Libya’s strategic significance is far greater than cocoa- and coffee-producing Ivory Coast, says Clark. Libya’s potential as an incubator for Middle Eastern democracy is also an attention-grabber for Western countries, he says.

“There is significant concern over Libya’s oil and what that would mean for Western strategic interest and there’s a sense that Libya fits into this wider pattern of democratization and the falling of draconian regimes in North Africa and the Middle East.”

Knox adds: “Oil is seen by the West as a more strategic commodity than cocoa if we’re to be quite blunt.”

Is America likely to get involved in the same way it has in Libya?

No, says Knox – partly because as he has shown with Libya, President Barack Obama is unwilling to take a leading role in multinational intervention.

But, he says, this is also because Obama would find it tough to convince a public disillusioned by America’s experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly given Ivory Coast’s perceived lack of strategic significance.

“We’ve seen that Obama has had a real problem selling [intervention] to the U.S. audience,” he said.

Why is France so involved?

As Ivory Coast’s former colonial ruler, France not only has experience of working in the country but also appears to feel a duty to do so, pressing for Security Council action and dispatching troops.

This, says Yabi, creates its own problems as Gbagbo uses the French presence for his own benefit. “Anti-colonial discourse is one of Gbagbo’s political weapons and he is trying to resuscitate that rhetoric against France.”

Knox adds that France’s involvement points to a broader campaign by Paris to inject itself into the international arena, as punctuated by President Nicolas Sarkozy (who is seeking re-election next year) taking a lead role in urging military action in Libya.

March 30, 2011

The Ivorian Conflict and the Peace Process in Liberia

Ivory Coast refugees — Ivorian fleeing their country have sought refuge on the Liberian border.

The Ivorian political situation between President- Elect Allasane Quattara and Laurent Gbagbo has led to a huge flow of many refugees into the northeastern and eastern parts of Liberia, especially to the border towns of Nimba and Grand Gedeh counties. The fighting between the two arch rivals Quattara and Gbagbo is too graved to the extent that it could lead to the instability of Liberia despite the presence of huge United Nations Mission in Liberia. What is unfortunate to note is that Liberians are combating each other in Ivory Coast. The wounds from the Liberian civil conflict between some ethnic groups has not being resolved. For instance, there is a history of confusion between the Gios and the Manos on the one hand and the Krahns on the other hand. In fact, there is an intrinsic psychological problem that has developed between the two ethnic groups as the result of the killing of Thomas Qwinonkpa of Nimba County by the Krahn ethnic group and the killing of President Samuel Kanyon Doe by Prince Johnson of the Gio ethnic group and many more situations. It is stated that the two tribes are seriously engaging each other in Ivory Coast. This fighting could lead to an offshoot to another round of the Liberia conflict which will hinder the peace process. When will this intrinsic psychological conflict end between these two ethnic groups? How could Liberians be engaged in another country’s conflict? Interestingly, there is a similarity of ethnic relationship that exists in Ivory Coast and Liberia.

Despite the disarmament of 103, 109 ex-fighters with 27,000 weapons destroyed, there is still challenge of illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the Liberian society. The Liberian National Security Document (2008) stated that 9,000 ex-fighters did not benefit from the Rehabilitation and Reintegration phase of the program. Some of the fighters did not disarm and others crossed the borders to Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Unfortunately, the international borders with these countries are porous and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons are very much likely. The Government of Liberia and the International Community should exert every effort to ensure the Ivory Coast conflict is speedily resolved because there are many variables that could interplay to another Liberian war if the conflict remains unsettled.

The Ivory Coast conflict has the propensity to hinder the peace process in Liberia. Liberians should be cautious about their role in the Ivorian crisis and learn to live in peace and harmony with their neighbor. Every Liberian should know by now that the fourteen years of war brought total destruction and suffering to the people of the country. There will always be socio-economic opportunities for a stable country.

March 29, 2011

Togo and Ghana Receiving More Ivorian Refugees as Crisis Spreads

UN Refugee Agency

Ivory Coast refugee — Refugees from Côte d'Ivoire walk along a forest trail to find safety and shelter in eastern Liberia.

GENEVA, March 29 (UNHCR) – The Ivorian refugee crisis is spreading further across West Africa, with Ghana and Togo receiving a growing number of new arrivals. While the southern city of Abidjan has been relatively calm in recent days, fresh clashes were reported Monday in Côte d’Ivoire’s west, centre-west and east.

In the west, renewed fighting has been reported in the town of Duékoué, which has experienced several waves of violence since December. Hostilities have also spread to the town of Daloa, some 100 kilometres east of Duékoué, and to Bondoukou near the Ghanaian border.

“UNHCR continues to advocate with both forces for civilians to be protected from harm,” said the UN refugee agency’s chief spokesperson, Melissa Fleming, at a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

In neighbouring Liberia, Grand Gedeh County in the east has registered over 10,000 newly arriving Ivorians in the last week alone, mostly in the Gbarzon and Tchein districts. Around 300 to 400 people are still arriving every day, and refugees tell UNHCR that many more are on their way.

“Several people say they left family members behind in their panic, including children. To reach Liberia, they cross the Cavally River with very few possessions and usually no money. Some could only carry bundles on their heads,” said Fleming.

The remote locations, rough terrain and long travel time between locations mean that UNHCR staff can only register refugees and distribute at one place at a time. The agency has dispatched relief items and is working with the World Food Programme to ensure food distribution and provision of high energy biscuits for all new arrivals. Additional staff have been deployed from Saclepea further north to strengthen the response.

A total of 24,507 refugees are now in Grand Gedeh, accounting for 22 per cent of the total 112,000 Ivorian refugees who have fled to Liberia since the crisis erupted after a presidential election in late November.

On Côte d’Ivoire’s eastern flank, Ghana has received 3,129 new refugees, mainly from Abidjan and its suburbs. UNHCR has set up a transit centre at the Elubo border crossing, as well as a refugee camp in the town of Ampain that can hold 3,000 people. The agency is providing food and relief items while racing to complete works on water, health and sanitation facilities.

The search is on to identify a second, bigger camp with the authorities. Fleming noted, “Although the number of refugees in Ghana is relatively small, the rapidly deteriorating conditions in Côte d’Ivoire require that we be prepared for a major influx. In the coming days, we will be deploying a team of six emergency staff to Ghana.”

Further east still, in Togo, some 857 Ivorians – over 60 per cent of them male – have also found safety in the capital Lomé. They fled through Ghana from Abobo, PK-18, Adjame, Williamsville and Yopougon, which are among the most populous and dangerous districts of Abidjan. Some in the group told UNHCR their properties were looted, others that they had been physically assaulted. Several women said they were raped.

In total, some 116,000 Ivorians have fled to eight West African countries since the post-election crisis started. In addition to Liberia, Ghana and Togo, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Nigeria are also hosting Ivorian refugees.

Of the US$97 million UNHCR needs for this emergency response, donors have thus far funded US$20 million.

By Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba
In Geneva

March 22, 2011March 31, 2011

The Ongoing Arab/Libya Revolution and International Diplomacy

”After half a century during which tyrants have ruled the Arab world, their control is weakening. After 40 years of decaying stability, the rot is eating into the stability. The Arab masses will no longer accept what they used to accept. The Arab elites will no longer remain silent”.- Ari Shavit; the Arab Revolution and the Western decline. How true are the words above on developments around the Arab community in recent times? The revolution started from Tunisia, down to Egypt, replicated in Yemen and Algeria, and most recently the heat is now on Gadhafi in Libya.

Little did 26-year old Mohammed Bouazizi of Tunisia knew that his action would trigger a revolution to spread to other Arab nations when he set himself ablaze in the impoverished city of Sidi Bouzid, 300 kilometers from Tunis, the Tunisian capital. Mohammed Bouazizi’s December 17, 2011 action (he died untimely in January 4, 2011) led to the disgraceful end of a 23-year old administration of Tunisian dictator, President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, the 30-year rule of Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak; and with the 41year rule of Muammar Gadhafi hanging in the balance. With the revolution spreading fast and deadly like contagious flu, the tragedy is that no single Arab country has immunity against this plague; no single Arab country practices sustainable democracy.

When the Middle East sneezes, the world catches cold as it were. If Mohammed Bouazizi had carried out his self immolation in other part of the world, it would have been doubtful if his death would have had the same impact as it does now. Until and unless an alternative and sustainable source of energy dethrones crude oil, the Middle East and by extension the Arab world will remain strategically important to the global economy to a worrisome extent. According to the International Energy Agency, ‘Middle Eastern producers will supply 50 percent of U.S oil imports, 50 percent of Europe, 80 percent of China’s, and 90 percent of Japans by 2030’.

The statistics above indicate that the survival and sustainability of the world powers and G-7 nations lies heavily in the Middle East. Crude oil from economic realities will, until an alternative source of energy is developed, continue to drive the world’s economy. As shown above, this is highly concentrated in the Middle East, though other nations such as Nigeria and Libya in Africa are also endowed with this natural resource. However, because the pace of crude oil production centers in the Middle East, that region remains to a large extent politically, economically and socially relevant to the other regions of the world. Hence, the present revolution going on in some oil-riched nations need to be objectively and holistically examined vis-à-vis their political and economic relevance. The present civil unrest going on in Libya brings this to the fore. It is imperative to examine the role of local and international bodies on the unceasing struggle for liberation by Libyans. Libya under President Gadhafi is a signatory to the Arab league, the African Union and by extension the United Nations Organization. Libya’s oil makes it economically relevant to member nations in the Arab bloc and to the international community.

The A.U was founded in Sirte, Gadhafi’s hometown in 1999, and has been well funded with Libya’s oil wealth. The A.U’s initial silence of the uprising in North Africa was criticized by many in Africa including a public statement by Gambia’s Yahya Jameh. The A.U like other regional and international organizations including the Arab league, has a set of objectives which include respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states (includling respect for Human Rights and observation of the U.N charter on Human Rights). The A.U at the beginning of the Libyan crisis was heavily involved with the situation in Cote D’Ivoire – a country with an internal strife but of no apparent relevance or importance to the West. Through its Peace and Security Council, the A.U has put in place a coalition of Heads of States Panel (includling political leaders of S/Africa, Uganda, Mauritania, etc) to look into the situation in Libya on a fact-finding mission and forward possible recommendations. Until recently, the U.N security council through a resolution passed a ‘no fly zone’ law on Libya, adopted also by the Arab league, though it (Arab league) differs on the bombing strategy as embarked upon by the the U.S, U.K and France. This has resulted in Gadhafi’s declaration of cease fire in major parts of the country where his loyalists are in a deadlock to the opposition.

Many political observers and concerned individuals have proposed a military intervention in the ousting of Gaddafi from power. However, as noted above, the U.N, A.U and Arab league will to a large extent respect the sovereignty of Libya as an independent nation. In my view, it is imperative as it was in previous movements (Tunisia and Egypt), and as indicated in the opening quote of this piece, that concerned bodies such as the U.N, A.U and Arab League, regardless of the political and economic relevance of Libya as an oil-rich nation, weigh the over 40-years of Gaddafi’s administration on abuse of power, gross indiscipline, corruption, disregard for human rights as alleged by opposition. The U.N, A.U and Arab League though recognizing the sovereignty of Libya, should never display a ‘blind eye’ to human rights and related abuses alleged on Gaddafi. If the findings of the panel and its subsequent recommendations reveals a gross abuse of power, then the law should take its rightful course as universally accepted under the charters of the U.N and other relevant bodies. Nobody is above the law, Gaddafi is not above the law. If he is found wanting after a thorough investigation, he should be made to face the wrath of the law.

As fervently addressed in an earlier article, Gaddafi must come to terms with the fact that true sovereignty lies in the hands of the people of Libya and not in an individual. He should remember, if forgotten, that autocratic heroes such as Pharaoh of Egypt, Alexander the Great of Greece, Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany during the second World -war are now in the book of history. He should respond to the call for a CHANGE from his people. Libyans, regardless of what the international community and constituted bodies are doing right now or plans to do, should learn to localize the global in there approach towards a national Change. All concerned agencies must work jointly towards the same goal; respect for rule of law, good governance and a sustainable democratic rule in Libya. The global community and especially Africans eagerly awaits the liberation of of the Libyan people.

SOLOMON JOHNSON.

March 16, 2011March 19, 2011

They Asked Me if I Preferred to Die or be Raped. I told them, ‘Rape Me Then’

congo1 — Women at the Mugunga III camp for the forcibly displaced in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

MUGUNGA III CAMP, Democratic Republic of the Congo, March 16 (UNHCR) – Marie* was first raped three years ago during a raid on her village that left her husband and 10 children dead – she was about 70 years old at the time.

In January, the Congolese grandmother was raped again by armed men when she left the shelter of Mugunga III – a hilltop camp for some 2,000 of the most vulnerable displaced people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo – to search for a teenage girl who had gone missing while foraging for firewood in the forest.

“I told them I was a poor old woman and that I was not interested in politics. They then asked me if I preferred to die or be raped. I told them, ‘Rape me then,'” Marie, struggling with her emotions, recalled of the second incident.

“There were six of them. When one finished, another took his place. They hit me and broke my knee. Other women were also there in the forest and, after being raped, the men pushed pieces of wood inside them and the women died,” she told UNHCR. “I was lucky, they did not kill me.”

Many other women in the DRC’s volatile North Kivu province have suffered similar abuse and family loss and they feel that the outside world is doing too little to help them or to tackle the widespread problem of sexual and gender-based violence in this neglected corner of Africa. Last year, some 15,000 cases of sexual violence were reported in the DRC, mainly in eastern provinces.

“There are many visitors, many delegations, who come to listen to survivors of sexual violence, but we never see results from these visits,” said Jeanne, another forcibly displaced woman at Mugunga III.

She was among a group of 20 women at the camp, many of whom have lost everything, who asked UNHCR visitors in late February to tell the world their stories and to solicit help. “We are touched to see that people think about us,” said another victim, Thérèse, “but we also need help to get over our problems and sustain our families despite all our internal suffering since being raped.”

Women and girls in the Mugunga camps are particularly vulnerable if they have to go out and collect firewood, mostly in the Virunga National Park. They risk sexual assault, but things would be far worse for their menfolk.

“We are scared to go to the forest, but we have no choice,” said Sabine. “We have tried sending our husbands, but if they go they get killed, so we prefer going by ourselves. In the best case, we only get beaten, but often we are raped.”

Marie was not looking for firewood when she was attacked, but she was searching for a 15-year-old girl who had been sent to bring back the precious resource, which is used for cooking or to sell for a small sum.

The 74-year-old was a rich woman before she was forced to flee her home in North Kivu’s Nyabondo district in 2008. “I had more than 100 cows and 40 pigs and goats. I had a house on a hill, a guest house with six bedrooms and a sewing machine,” she recounted. “Everything was stolen.”

Her husband was forced to watch as she was raped, before he was killed. Marie was also shot in the legs and still has to use a crutch to get around. In Mugunga III, she lives in a small hut with six of her grandchildren and the three children of a neighbour who died, including the girl who went missing in Virunga.

“I had heard that girls were kept as sex slaves in Virunga Park,” Marie said, explaining why she went to look in vain for the girl. She said she has felt sick ever since the rape ordeal. “It hurts when I move. It hurts when I walk. It hurts when I breathe . . . I have to go to hospital, but I cannot afford it.”

Aside from such health problems, victims of sexual and gender-based violence also face ostracism from their community, lack of sympathy, mental trauma and problems earning a living and supporting their family.

The women in Mugunga III who approached UNHCR for help, also want support for socio-economic and income-generation projects to help female victims of sexual violence. They want their husbands and sons to be sensitized to the problem. “I talk to my son when rapists are sent to jail. I tell him that if this happens to him one day, I would never visit him in prison,” said Thérèse.

Meanwhile, UNHCR has swiftly responded to one of the requests from Mugunga III by launching a project to provide about 500 women with fuel efficient stoves so that they no longer have to forage in the forest for firewood. They will also be taught to make fuel briquettes from sawdust and paper. The project will benefit all households in the camp.

* Name changed for protection reasons

By Celine Schmitt in Mugunga III Camp, Democratic Republic of the Congo

UNHCR, The UN Refugee Agency

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October 18, 2010January 21, 2011

We’re in to Fight it, Congolese Women tell Rapists in Protest

The first lady of the the Democratic Republic of Congo’s has led thousands of women on a march against sexual violence.

Many of them carried banners with slogans such as “No to sexual terrorism”, according to the AFP news agency.

It is reported that some of the victims left the hospitals where they are recovering from sexual assults to join the march. Rape is a common episode in the African country and is even being used as a war tactic

Last week, the UN said government troops were raping and killing women in the same villages where hundreds were raped by rebels in July and August.

Bits & Pieces from the AP, BBC, AFP News and VOA.