did you know?

BBC: DR CONGO KEY FACTS
Did you know that more people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a direct result of any conflict since World War 2?

No? Neither did I

The DR Congo has just held its first democratic elections in 40 years. To say that this is a huge thing would be a massive understatement, and yet I’m dismayed at how little recent information I can find to tell me what is happening, what the polls are indicating, what the likely outcome will be.

Yes, this news perhaps isn’t as blatantly interesting as what is happening in the Middle East at the moment – there are no bombs – but there are still 1,250 people dying daily as a direct result of the conflict.

I know very little about the situation in the Congo. Any informed person is likely to look at this blog and “phoo phoo” it, but contrasting my usual attitude, I don’t care. 1,250 people dying each day should be newsworthy, I should know more, I should have heard about this before. Why haven’t I?

Why is it that the majority of people who read this Blog, even if it doesn’t have the most informed opinion you will find, have never heard about the atrocities either?

If this is the first you have heard about it head to this TIME magazine article, and also the BBC for an overview.

If you find any links that might help others know more please leave them in a comment.

(as a sideline, I have the honour to work with a refugee from The Congo - if he was in his country this would be the first opportunity he would have had in his lifetime to vote... once again I am reminded at how privileged I am)