Editor’s note: Actor and activist Robin Wright recently traveled to eastern Congo with the Enough Project, a Washington-based group focused on ending genocide and crimes against humanity. Her video trip diary appears as a special feature on a new UK edition of “Blood in the Mobile,” available on DVD.

(CNN) — A 10-year-old boy, his face still innocent, abducted from his village and forced to kill alongside ruthless militia fighters. A 60-year-old grandmother too ashamed of the injuries caused by a brutal rape to leave her house for five months, even though her wounds worsened. A girl who reminded me of my own daughter, bridging the years between youth and womanhood, who had been dragged into a forest near her house by a group of men and raped, over and over again.

Images of these people, whose quiet but warm personalities barely hint at the atrocities they have survived, give a human face to the conflict in eastern Congo that has long moved me as an activist. With well over 5 million people dead through war and its accompanying hardships spanning more than a decade, it is difficult to imagine the daily impact of a conflict of this magnitude, much less to feel empowered to do anything about it.

A new documentary film, “Blood in the Mobile,” powerfully addresses both the limits of the imagination and our sense of connection to atrocities committed on the other side of the world. Through a shaky camera in the damp and dark mines of eastern Congo, filmmaker Frank Poulsen introduces us to some of the young men (and even children) toiling at the first stage of Congo’s lucrative business in tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold. But the wealth of this industry doesn’t really benefit the Congolese miners for their back-breaking, perilous and poorly paid work — not by a long shot.

Militia groups and factions of the Congo’s army control many mines, imposing heavy “taxes” on miners for whom there are few alternatives for making a living. Juxtapose these gritty images of Congo with shots filmed at the headquarters of Nokia, the electronics powerhouse that sells these minerals in its consumer products, and you have a message that is difficult to ignore: the cell phones, laptops, digital cameras and other products we have come to rely on link all of us to the conflict in Congo.

As consumers, we’re perpetuating the conflict. We have an obligation but also an opportunity.
I was fortunate to have a chance to travel to eastern Congo recently to see with my own eyes and to feel, even with the relative safety of traveling with the ever-attentive Fidel Bafilemba of the Enough Project, the psychological effect of spending time in an unpredictable conflict zone. I was struck by how we witnessed the raw, nervous strain of communities said to be post-conflict, post-traumatic.

But nothing seemed to be “post-”: Indeed, these communities appear to be enduring conflict and trauma on a daily basis. Local organizations, from the reintegration center for child soldiers to the rehabilitation center for survivors of sexual violence, are working as hard as they can to provide solace and a hopeful future for those most physically and emotionally harmed by the conflict. But as necessary as these efforts are, they treat the symptoms; there is little concept of pre-emptive or preventive.

Two years had passed since U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to one of the same towns I visited. Nearly everyone I met remembered “Mama Clinton” and asked me to follow up with her when I returned to the United States. “I think it is no secret to you,” one woman said, speaking into the videocamera and addressing Clinton. “Our wealth is being plundered, and that’s why we are being raped.” She urged Clinton to make good on her promise to bring high-level U.S. attention to the crisis in Congo.

In particular, Clinton’s leadership and gravitas are needed to implement an international certification scheme that enables companies to trace the source of the minerals to ensure that they aren’t funding armed groups, and that allows consumers to choose which companies to give business to, based on their human rights record in Congo.

Visiting Congo for the first time without knowing the local language, Kiswahili, I was dependent on my talented interpreter Fidel for putting into words my countless questions and gratitude to the people I interviewed. But in those moments when I sat face-to-face with women, neither of us speaking while we listened to his translation, I would often catch a look, a slight nod, that clearly said, “I know you know. I know you understand.”

Women have a natural, inherent knowingness, an unspoken connection between us, as mothers, wives and sisters. For several years I have followed Congo from afar, understanding theoretically and intellectually how we in the United States could help end the conflict. Now I deeply feel the why.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter

Editor’s note: Award-winning film maker Fiona Lloyd-Davies is one of the UK’s most experienced foreign documentary and current affairs program makers. She has been making films about human rights issues in areas of conflict since 1992. She writes for CNN as part of special coverage on the Democratic Republic of Congo as the country heads to the polls on November 28.

(CNN) — From the first time you step into eastern Congo, you find yourself surrounded by the exotic and extraordinary, be it flora and fauna or the just plain incongruous — the severed wing of a Russian aircraft stored on the side of the road, or a boy with a gun.

The place is pulsating with the heat and energy of a population of people fighting to survive just one more day. But the violence here is as intense as this intoxicating, heady mix of Africa at its best and worst.

Eastern Congo has been called the “rape capital of the world” by U.N. Special Representative Margot Wallstrom. Reports record that 48 women are raped every hour. I have been working in the region for 10 years and have seen a tragic development in this unpunished crime against the heart of society.

I first went to a town called Shabunda, deep in the forest. It was October 2001 and circumstances brought me to Congo rather than Afghanistan. A small twin-engined plane was the only way in. And out.

I first went to a town called Shabunda, deep in the forest. It was October 2001 and circumstances brought me to Congo rather than Afghanistan. A small twin-engined plane was the only way in. And out.

It was the height of the war and I was with a returning team from the medical NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). They had pulled out because of the regular attacks on the town, but had decided it was safe to bring their team of three back: there was such a need for medical help here.

As the plane taxied its way precariously down the grass airstrip, we knew we were waving goodbye to the only escape route we had. I was there for a week.

Stay at home and face starvation. Or, go out to the fields for food and be raped. Most women chose the latter.

A week hearing terrifying stories of torture and rape. Multiple rapes. Violent, brutal rape. Rape with sticks and guns, even bayonets.

Women told me of their daily choice — to stay at home and face starvation. Or, go out to the fields for food and be raped. Most women chose the latter. It had become the norm.

The war continued until 2003, when a peace treaty was signed. Officially, the fighting came to an end, but it didn’t stop. Nor did the rape.

I returned to Shabunda in 2005 to find the women I had interviewed and photograph four years earlier. It was an unsettling search, for most of those women had died or disappeared in the forest after an attack, never to be seen again.

The new women I met had similar tales of horror. But there was a twist. The people I spoke to this time related organized rape camps, with daily roll-calls. There was a new efficiency in the rape, it had become an integrated part of the rebel forces lives. As these women told me, it was now systematic.

Some years later, in 2009, I returned to make a film about rape and found a disturbing new trend.

Women told me how they expected to be raped. Not once but many times. The women I met, spoke of gang rapes, three or four times. Sometimes it was “only” two soldiers, more often gangs of men,10, 20, over and over again.

Many had conceived children and the girl children, some just babies only a few months old, were being raped as well.

Rape has now become generational.

In Panzi hospital, Bukavu, Dr. Mukwege, a general surgeon continues to work tirelessly to repair these damaged women. I met one of his patients. She was a cheerful little girl, it was impossible not to be drawn to her smile.

The nurse saw me playing with her said: “You know she’s HIV-positive.” She was just three years old. Her twin sister had been killed when she and her mother had been raped. This little girl had been conceived from rape.

It makes difficult reading, but not nearly as difficult as it is for the women survivors, who are living with the consequences and stigma of rape.

Not least one particular woman, Masika Katsuva. She’s tiny, barely five foot tall but is a giant of a personality. Her story has inspired many of us, it is so bleak but also hopeful because she’s providing an answer to these women.

Link: The African beauty empowering women

Like so many women survivors, she too was rejected when she and her two teenage daughters were raped by militia men. Her husband was murdered in front of her, chopped up and she was forced to eat his private parts.

Her two daughters Rachel and Yvette were 15 and 13 years old, and both of them conceived children. Masika’s husband’s family rejected them and she brought her daughters and their babies to a market town hugging the shore of Lake Kivu to try and rebuild their lives.

This year I made a film about her and her work. She’s taking care of 170 women at the moment, they call her Mama Masika. Over the past 10 years she’s helped more than 6,000 victims of rape, providing them with a wide range of care — practical, medical and psychological.

She has created a community in an area that is not regularly attacked, providing support to anyone who wants it, and she uses a farm to bring them together.

That field is their hope, their therapy and their source of food and income. They come to this refuge as victims, punished by the violation of rape, blamed and rejected by their families and the local community.
Masika has become a mother figure to the women and their children — the results of rape — and as they plant, tend, harvest and finally sell their crops they begin to heal together.

Masika tries to dream of a better future, but she’s also realistic. She wants her women to be able to stop doing manual labor in the fields and learn skills like sewing. But for that to happen, she believes, the fighting and the rape must stop.

She looks me in the eye, and with a sigh, says: “But I don’t see either the rape or the fighting ending today.”

Hope in Action and Gro B Randby has worked in DR Congo since 1994. Rebuilding health clinics, schools and hospitals, assisting refugees, victims of sexual violence and child soldiers.
So far more than 6400 child soldiers are demobilized, rehabilitated and reintegrated in to civil life. The children have got some small education and skill training during their rehabilitation period. We want to increase this part of the work by building tree vocational training centre.

The centre will be located in tree villages where many of the former child soldiers are reintegrated during the last years.

The vocational training centre will be equipped with professional tools and machines. The teachers are highly trained in their profession. The training will last for one year with final examination in the actual profession and a start kit with tools.

The course will also include knowledge in the establishment of small businesses. The aim is that the former child soldiers can go together and create a business in their home village. They will be able to make a living and build their country instead of ruin it by war.

The cost of each vocational training centre: 30 000 $ (180 000 NOK )

The cost of a start kit for one child: 200 $ (1200 NOK )

The cost of one child’s education: 170 $ (1000 NOK )

Take action


A group of young people in a village outside Oslo will buy a container and fill it with tools, machines and utensils that child soldiers can benefit from when they build their company. Follow this page. When this project is started, all of you can contribute with concrete assistance to the child soldiers by helping to fill the container.

When the container is full it will be shipped to DRC.

Have you managed to build up a business in Norway? Do yo dream of using your skills to create growth and development in Africa?

We are planning to arrange a trip to Beni/Butembo in North Kivu, DR Congo, where thousands of child soldiers are back in their villages. If you pay the journey yourself, you can visit the villages and talk with village management and staff who have worked with the child soldiers the past eight years. Together we can find new ways to end poverty and help people in Congo build their country.

Agriculture will also be part of the vocational training program. Many children know how to farm and to take care of a livestock production. You can be involved by buying land and farming equipment for the children. They will form cooperatives and be engaged in agriculture projects together.

Students for Change are planning to involve students in helping child soldiers in Congo back to a normal life. They will arrange a workshop at Chateau Neuf in Februar to find out what students can do.

Strange News is a multimedia performance in which a young Ugandan actor stands in front of a large symphony orchestra and tells his story through powerful surround sound and realistic video. The play has so far been set up in ten countries in Europe, USA and Latin America. It was back in Norway the 27th of October and PfC was a partner in this performance.

Click here to learn more about the performance

Click here to learn more about child soldiers in DR Kongo

If you want to know more, or be engaged in this, contact Hope in Action’s contact in Norway, Gro Bøckmann Randby

You can give a one-time gift or enrol as a regular donor.

Account number Hope in Action Norway:

Verdibanken: 9791 11 37775


Contact person:


Gro Bøckmann Randby
Women Empowerment/Partnership for Change

e-mail: grobr@mac.com

mobil: +47 918 93 107

Diamonds and gold — vast natural resources that could enrich a nation — are a curse in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Congolese people have suffered the largest death toll since the second world war.

The conflict between warlords and armed rebels for control of these resources have plunged the citizens into a life of poverty, sexual violence, and war. Some 45,000 people die each month as a result.

The actual miners who extract the sought-out treasures have no access to a living wage, societal safety, or simple medical care, while their leaders enrich themselves and allow the misery to continue.

Marcus Bleasdale traces how the west’s consumer appetite for these resources have led to such sub-human conditions for the Congolese, and poses that we might make a difference — at the jewelry counter — simply by asking: where does that ring come from?

Published: January 22, 2008

How to Help
Human Rights Watch
MÉdecins Sans FrontiÈres
The International Rescue Committee
Save the Children
The Coalition to Stop the use of Child Soldiers
Global Witness
St Kizito Orphanage

See the amazing images from DR Congo. Photo: Endre Vestvik.

Click on the images to browse.

Video Source: Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Article Source: Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(Norwegian only)

Historiene som fortelles om lidelsene i de krigsherjede områdene i den Demokratiske Republikken Kongo ryster en langt inn i sjelen. Historien til Chantal inkludert. Det er vel ingen tvil om at Øst-Kongo er et av de verste stedene på jord å være kvinne, om ikke dét verste. Det er lett å fortvile.

”Kvinner bærer halve himmelen” – i det ligger det allikevel et håp. Og tegn til håp må vi feste oss ved. Takk til initiativtakerne for å lage denne boken, for å åpne våre øyne. Jeg vil bruke innlegget mitt til å sette søkelyset på hva vi kan gjøre for å møte utfordringene i forhold til kvinners situasjon i Kongo – og derigjennom andre steder på jorda der kvinner lider slik grov urett.

Først om det internasjonale rammeverket: Da FNs sikkerhetsråd i år 2000 enstemmig vedtok resolusjonen nr 1325 om kvinner, fred og sikkerhet var det første gang i FNs historie at Sikkerhetsrådet tok stilling til spørsmål om kvinners roller og erfaringer i krig.

Det var på tide. For til alle tider har kvinner ikke bare båret en del av himmelen, men i direkte forstand båret en altfor stor andel av lidelse i krig og byrde av fattigdom.

Resolusjonen var på mange måter en milepæl. Den ble båret frem av et stort antall frivillige kvinneorganisasjoner og deres kampanjer var en sterkt medvirkende årsak til at resolusjonen i det hele tatt ble til. Den har også utløst et omfattende engasjement i mange land, også her i Norge. I dag har 17 land utarbeidet egne handlingsplaner for å implementere resolusjonen i eget land. Norge er et av dem.

Samtidig må vi erkjenne dette når vi nærmer oss tiårsmarkeringen av resolusjonen i 2010: Det gjenstår mye før den er gjennomført i FNs medlemsland. Den risikerer å bli hengende som en tekst av ord og ikke et program for handling. Vi kan ikke la det skje. Senere i høst vil vi, sammen med kvinneorganisasjonen Fokus, arrangere en internasjonal konferanse om resolusjon 1325. Ett mål med konferansen vil være å sette fornyet fokus på resolusjonen og understreke nødvendigheten av at den blir gjennomført – å heve oppmerksomheten og se hvordan vi kan følge opp bedre selv og stimulere andre til å ta dette på alvor.

En ny, viktig milepæl ble nådd i fjor da Sikkerhetsrådet vedtok resolusjon 1820, også den om kvinner, fred og sikkerhet, men med et hovedfokus på seksualisert vold som del av en militær strategi.

Resolusjonen er ikke mer av det samme. Den tar tak i et enda mørkere kapittel, nemlig den militære og politiske strategien med bruk av seksualisert vold. Sikkerhetsrådet anerkjenner med denne resolusjonen at voldtekt og seksualisert vold er en trussel mot internasjonal fred og sikkerhet. Det er minst like viktig at slike overgrep kan være å anse som en krigsforbrytelse, en forbrytelse mot menneskeheten og defineres som folkemord.

Og så – ganske nylig – den 30. september, vedtok Sikkerhetsrådet enstemmig resolusjon 1888. Den krever at alle parter i en væpnet konflikt øyeblikkelig treffer tiltak for å beskytte sivilbefolkningen, inkludert kvinner og barn mot alle former for seksuelle overgrep.

1888 er en omfattende og ambisiøs oppfølging av 1820-resolusjonen. En av de viktige og konkrete beslutningene i denne resolusjonen er at FNs generalsekretær skal oppnevne en spesialrepresentant som skal sørge for strategisk lederskap og samordnet innsats for å bekjempe seksualisert vold i væpnede konflikter. Vi har vært en sterk talsmann for dette. Og la meg legge til – denne resolusjonen er i stor grad drevet frem av USA, gjennom Hillary Clintons personlige engasjement. Jeg deltok i et seminar sammen med henne om dette tema i New York. Alle kunne se engasjementet. Hun fortalte at noen hadde kritisert henne for å bruke tid på dette og spurt om hva dette hadde med utenrikspolitikk å gjøre. ”Det er dette som er utenrikspolitikkens essens”, sa Clinton, forsvaret av uskyldige mennesker, skape rammer for liv og utvikling. Det er velkomne ord, vi har etterspurt denne type lederskap fra USA. Nå er det her – og vi vil svare aktivt og oppfølgende.

Hva gjør vi så på norsk side når det gjelder konkret bistand til den Demokratiske Republikken Kongo? Norge gir betydelig støtte til humanitært arbeid og tiltak på mellomlang sikt i Kongo. Den totale bistanden til Kongo i 2008 var på 200 millioner kroner. Skogsatsningen i Kongobassenget, altså klimaarbeid, der staten DR Kongo utgjør en betydelig del, vil komme i tillegg. Midlene kanaliseres gjennom FN-systemet samt norske og internasjonale frivillige organisasjoner.

Tiltak for ofre for seksualisert vold et et prioritert innsatsområde. Norsk støtte har blant annet vært sentral for å få utarbeidet FNs strategi for bekjempelse av seksualisert vold i Kongo. Vi gir også støtte til norske frivillige organisasjoner som arbeider med medisinsk, psykososial og annen oppfølging av ofre for seksualisert vold. Jeg vil berømme den innsatsen norske frivillige organisasjoner gjør, som PYM (Pinsevennenes ytremisjon), Kirkens Nødhjelp, Care og Christian Relief Network. Ikke minst gjennom nettverksarbeid med lokale kirkesamfunn når dere ut til ofrene. For en ting er helsetilbudet, en annen ting er å få ofrene dit fra landsbygda – der de som oftest bor. Gjennom deres nettverk kan vi nå langt flere av dem – og bringe dem dit hjelpen er.

La meg også her nevne noen andre viktige fokusområder for norsk innsats i Kongo, som reintegrering av barnesoldater, hjelp til internt fordrevne og tiltak for avvæpning.

Dette er viktige tiltak. Det vi gjør monner og det synes. Men det er likevel viktig å minne om at det er dråper i havet, i et land der over 5 millioner mennesker er drept de siste par tiårene og der sårene og lidelsene overgår det meste. Det blir ikke orden her før det blir orden på politikken, på styresettet, på forholdet mellom nabolandene. Det kan bare afrikanerne selv rydde opp i, støttet av oss, men anført av dem selv.

Tilbake til tiltake for ofrene: En delegasjon fra UD og Norad reiste nylig til Goma for å se på tiltak for ofre for seksualisert vold. Delegasjonen besøkte blant annet Kyeshero-sykehuset, som vi hører om i boken. Bakgrunnen for besøket er at vi ønsker å øke den helt konkrete innsatsen for bekjempelse av seksualisert vold. Andre land tenker i samme baner. En del av innsatsen for å følge opp FN-resoulsjonene er å nå ofrene, gi dem hjelp, hindre at de støtes ut, kort sagt, motvirke at de lykkes de som har voldtekt som militær og politisk strategi.

Vi jobber tett med amerikanerne, og Hillary Clinton og jeg er enige om å prøve ut norsk-amerikansk samarbeid i felten. Clinton besøkte Øst-Kongo i august. Under reisen hadde vi direkte kontakt og ble enige om å se på hvordan vi kan samarbeide om å bedre det medisinske tilbudet til ofre for seksualisert vold i Øst-Kongo, blant annet med mulighet for å styrke sykehustilbudet. Vi jobber nå med oppfølgingen.

Tilbakemeldingene vi får fra felten – fra myndighetene, fra frivillige organisasjoner og fra FN-organisasjoner – er at det er et stort behov for å øke innsatsen i forhold til reintegreringsfasen, det vil si tilbakeføring av voldsofrene til lokalsamfunnet. Psykososial oppfølging står her sentralt. Voldtekt handler om grusomme enkeltskjebner. Men det virkelig uhyggelige er den gjennomtenkte strategien – for hundretusener av voldtatte kvinner – og også en del menn – betyr ødelagte familier og lokalsamfunn. Seksualisert vold er en krigsstrategi med fatale konsekvenser for framtidig konfliktløsning, fred og forsoning.

For å møte dette er det behov for innsats på flere nivåer. Ikke minst må vi utvikle en god nok psykososial respons og rehabilitering. Samtidig er et slikt tilbud helt sentralt for at kvinnene skal kunne bringes tilbake til et normalt og liv, for at familiene skal få den hjelpen de behøver for å bearbeide sine traumer, og for gjenoppbygging av lokalsamfunnene og samfunnsstrukturene. Her er det ikke rom for prøving og feiling. Vi ønsker fra norsk side å se på hvordan vi eventuelt kan bidra på dette viktige feltet.

Straffefrihet er et annet viktig felt der større innsats er påkrevet. Kort sagt: Overgriperne må straffes! Dette vil i tillegg ha en preventiv effekt og føre til en nedgang i antall nye overgrep. Vi må også sørge for at de som dømmes faktisk soner sin straff og ofrene kompenseres.

Samarbeid med myndighetene er her sentralt. Fra norsk side vurderer vi støtte til to mulige tiltak: 1) Det ene gjelder etablering av et fond for ofre for seksualisert vold som ønsker å ta sine saker til domstolene. 2) Det andre dreier seg om kompetansebygging innen rettsvesenet i forhold til håndtering av voldtektssaker.

Til sist handler det om å holde saken på dagsorden, snakke om den – rette søkelyset på ofrene, overgriperne, lokalsamfunnene, politikken – lokalt og internasjonalt. Vi etablerer nå et eget prosjekt i UD som vil arbeide med begge disse aspektene – det internasjonale arbeidet og gjennomføring av konkrete tiltak i felt, og da særlig i Kongo.

Til sist – og som sagt: Grusomhetene som finner sted i Øst-Kongo er verre enn ord kan beskrive. Denne boken – med sine innsiktsfulle tekster og talende bilder – gir allikevel et innblikk i lidelsene. Takk til Jan Speed og Endre Vestvik for at dere setter søkelyset på et viktig tema.

I en virkelighet som den vi finner i de krigsherjede områdene i Kongo er det lett å overveldes av håpløshet, å gi opp. Samtidig er det så uendelig viktig å rette oppmerksomhete mot det vi faktisk kan gjøre. Boken setter fokus på flotte kvinner, tilsynelatende utrettelige ildsjeler som har viet sine liv til å hjelpe andre kvinner – som har valgt å handle. Flere kvinner og også menn slutter seg til nettverket og gjør en innsats for en felles framtid. Midt i alt det dystre, gir dette håp. Takk Mama Jeanne, takk Jeanette for den fantastiske innsatsen dere gjør.

Og så må vi legge til dette: Det handler om overgrep mot kvinner, også noen menn, men i dominerende grad mot kvinner. Overgriperne derimot, er stort sett bare menn. Dette må vi også snakke om.

Under seminaret i New York var det noen av mine kolleger, mannlige, som sa at dette var spesielt for dem fordi de hadde døtre og barnebarn som var jenter. Ja, det er opprørende. Men det gir grunn til ettertanke også for oss som er menn og som ikke har døtre, men sønner, hva skal vi si til dem? Hvordan forklarer vi at det faktisk er menn som står bak en slik fryktelig overgriperkultur, at det er våre brødre som river ned den halve himmelen og mer til? Hvordan nærmer vi oss dette vanskelige komplekset der de som begår utilgivelige overgrep også kan sees som ofre for krigens grusomheter fordi de bringes til å begå slike handlinger?

Vanskelige spørsmål, men de hører med. Nok en grunn til å takke forfatterne og alle som setter fokus på en av vår tids virkelig store saker.

Illustration photo by Endre Vestvik

After a few weeks Nadi realized that she was pregnant after the rape. A neighbor told her about the women’s network that helps rape victims. She met Mama Jeanne and eventually she got a place at the rehabilitation centre in Goma where she gave birth to her child. Due to her low age and the brutality of the rape she has still not recovered physically after giving birth. But Nadi is a survivor. She is a charming, witty and very beautiful girl. She is the self-appointed leader of the group of youths at the center.

Nadi is waiting for a place in an agricultural cooperative in Masisi together with other women in the same situation. She will get materials to build a cabin for herself, farmland, farming tools and seeds. This way she will be able to start her new life and support herself and her child in the future.

The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation made this film in 2005. Endre Vestvik has filmed the part that deals with Mama Jeanne and Jeannette’s work among rape victims in DR Congo.

Strange News is a multimedia performance in which a young Ugandan actor stands in front of a large symphony orchestra and tells his story through powerful surround sound and realistic video.
He tells us about being kidnapped, beaten and abused; about having to kill his own friend; about brutality and violence. But also about hope, about being rescued and given the opportunity to start anew.

We encourage all our partners to attend this concert and get a glimpse of the child soldiers’ reality.

Thursday Oktober 27th, is Strange News in Oslo Concert Hall.

BUY TICKETS HERE (click) 

http://www.oslofilharmonien.no/lang/en/calendar/krig-uten-vinnere-war-without-winners/

Partnership for Change cooperates with Hope in Action, a non-governmental organization who has worked in DR Congo since 1994. So far more than 6 400 children have been rehabilitated and returned to their families and villages since the start of Hope in Action’s child soldier project in 2004.

Partnership for Chance invite their partners to get involved in the effort to reintegrate the children to civilian life through vocational training and establishment of small businesses.

If you want to get involved, contact:

Gro Bøckmann Randby
Mobil: +47 918 93 107
E-mail: grobr@mac.com

This film highlights the crisis facing women, girls and infants throughout the world, both during conflict and in its wake, and gives a voice to the victims of rape in The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia. (September 2004)

This video was provided by: irinnews.org/​- humanitarian news and analysis
a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Video Source: irinnews.org/​Film/​?id=4128