DRC: USA donates $10m to fight rapes

  1. Posted on Sunday 17 October 2010 - 05:09
    guyson
    Image of guyson
    Nangayi Guyson, AfricaNews reporter in Kampala, Uganda
    The US Agency for International Development (USAid) has donated $10m to a project to combat sexual violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where armed groups attack civilians, AFP reported.
    DR Congo rebel leader arrested over mass rapes
    Named "Welcome to Changes in the Community", the project "aims to promote communal solidarity" in the provinces of Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu and in Maniema in the east, which has been particularly affected by mass rape cases, USAid said in a statement.

    The project is conceived as an integral part of a programme to provide care, access to medical treatment, security and empowerment (CASE), and it will be carried out mainly by the International Medical Corps (IMC), which is mainly active in the east of the DRC.

    The overall programme, financed to the tune of $16.1m, is part of the $17m promised to the DRC in August by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the money will be used to help survivors of sexual violence.

    In the east and northeast of the country, rebels, armed militias and also the regular army, the FARDC, are all accused of regularly committing atrocities against civilians, particularly women, who become rape victims.

    According to the United Nations, at least 500 people, including children, were raped at the end of July and beginning of August by a coalition of Mai-Mai militia forces and members of the Hutu rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in 13 villages of the Walikale territory in Nord-Kivu province.

Reactions

  1. Posted on Sunday 17 October 2010 09:06
    Mahamed44
    Image of Mahamed44

    Mahamed Mahamed44
    11 berichten
    Lid sinds October 2010
    borås

    Pirates seize South Korean fishing boat off Kenya

    The pirates are now roaming up to 1,000 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia
    A South Korean fishing boat with 43 sailors aboard has been hijacked by pirates off the coast of Kenya, South Korea's foreign ministry says.

    The ministry said the crab fishing vessel was seized off Lamu Island on 9 October.

    South Korean media reported the boat had been taken to a pirate stronghold in northern Somalia.

    Kidnapping for ransom is common in Somalia, which has had no effective government for two decades.

    Continue reading the main story
    PIRACY CRISIS

    Growing risk
    Q&A: Prosecuting a pirate
    Spotlight on 'guns for hire'
    Somali piracy: Global map
    In a statement, South Korea's foreign ministry said it was investigating the incident and had set up an emergency team at its embassy in Kenya.

    The statement did not say if contact with the pirates had been made or if a ransom had been demanded.

    South Korea has a warship on anti-piracy patrol in the waters of the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden off Somalia.

    The area is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, leading to the Suez Canal.

    European naval officers fighting piracy in the waters warned earlier in October that pirates would likely be more desperate with the onset of the piracy season as their success rate was declining.

    Continue reading the main story

    Q&A: What do you do with a captured pirate?
    Piracy a symptom of a bigger problem
    The European Union's naval force, Navfor, estimates that the pirates' success ratio - the number of successful hijackings versus the number attempted - has dropped from 50% a few years ago to 20-30% this year because of international patrols.

    The patrols have forced the pirates to range a wider area of the Indian Ocean in search of targets.

    But Navfor also warned that hostages are being held for a longer period on average and that ransoms being demanded - and paid - are breaking new records.

    More on This Story
    PIRACY CRISIS

    BACKGROUND

    Growing risk
    EU navies warn Somali piracy may enter deadly new phase
    Q&A: Prosecuting a pirate
    Spotlight on 'guns for hire'
    Somali piracy: Global map
    Postcard from pirate capital
    Inside story of Somali pirate attack
    Chasing the piracy money trail
    Q
    pirate.jpg
    Mahamed

Latest News

  1. OPINION: Welcome to African Green Revolution24/05For the past century and a half, Africa has tried various agricultural approaches without much success.
  2. Egyptians vote in historic election23/05Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who serv…
  3. Africa Day 2012 - a moment for reflection and…22/0525th May is Africa Day. For many years it has been a celebration of African unity. It dates back to 1963 when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) …
  4. South Africa's African agenda21/05The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Mothlanthe paid a rare visit to Ghana in April at the invitation of John Dramani Mahama …
  5. Women struggle to rinse hunger, poverty stains21/05Just looking at her one clearly appreciates that she is old and frail therefore in need of support for food, clothing and shelter to live comfortably …
  6. Climate Climate change affects migratory birds…21/05Changes in the climate globally have affected the movement of both migratory and resident species of birds, Nature Uganda has said.
  7. Ghana: Foreign retailers cited for currency…18/05The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is attributing the sharp depreciation of the Ghana cedi against major currencies to the illegal activiti…
  8. Kenya: Community radio brings succour to…18/05Korogocho, a slum in northeastern Nairobi with 100,000 inhabitants, had many of the ingredients for a political explosion similar to those that rocked…
  9. Veld fires 'flame' Zimbabwe's…16/05Over the years, Zimbabwe has experienced the scourge of veld fires destroying property worth thousands of dollars.
  10. Liberia commends ECOWAS for support14/05The induction training of pioneer Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Volunteers for Liberia kicked off in Monrovia, with the Deputy Mi…
  11. Vanishing Lake Chad puts 30m lives at risk14/05As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in north-eastern Nigeria, the evidence of despair is telling.
  12. Heavy rains cause havoc in Kenya14/05Heavy Rainfall continued to wreak havoc across the country leading to the suspension of relief food in some parts of the country as most roads in Turk…
  13. Zimbabwe: Growth points lie dormant14/05The Zimbabwean government mooted the concept of growth points in the 1980s as a means of decongesting cities and towns.
  14. Sierra Leone improves in infant mortality11/05Sierra Leone has improved in infant mortality cases according to Save the Children- World Motherhood index 2012 report. The West Africa country descri…
  15. Zimbabwe: Resettled farmers fail to utilize…10/05Resettled farmers in Zimbabwe are failing to utilize land due to inadequate farming inputs and lack of resources.
News archive