Since the end of 2006, AFJN has been actively involved in CGA. Our Executive Director, Rocco Puopolo, s.x., sits on the Coalition’s Executive Committee and AFJN acts as CGA’s fiscal sponsor. Together with over thirty international organizations, we have built a coalition to stop the violence in DR Congo.

As we watched the crises in Darfur and northern Uganda gain worldwide attention, we began to wonder why a war that has seen the deaths of nearly five million individuals has remained absent from the radar of the international community. MONUC, the UN mission in Congo, has proved largely ineffective; the hailed elections of 2006 produced no significant change in the stability of the region; and General Laurent Nkunda, backed by the Rwandan government, has begun a crusade of violence against the people of Eastern DRC.

Unfortunately, the November Conference and Lobby Day needs to be postponed to ensure more effective outcomes. To those of you who have already made plans to attend, we must apologize for this schedule change. Please continue to check the AFJN website as well as the CGA website for updates. Again, our sincere apologies and thank you for your interest in CGA.

In the meantime, we must act now. Please visit Congo Global Action’s website at www.congoglobalaction.org to find out how you can advocate on a local level before the nationwide conference. The momentum to establish peace and justice must continue.

The people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been waiting for peace for the past eleven years, but the reality on the ground shows that peace is not in their near future.  The Congo has been at war since its invasion in 1996 by the Tutsi and a coalition of Rwandan, Ugandan and Burundian armed forces. Even before this, several rebel groups fighting various governments found a safe haven in the Congo where they wreaked havoc on the nation.  These groups include the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu rebel group against the government of Rwanda that accuses them of the genocide of 1994; the National Liberation Forces (FNL), a group that is resisting the government of Burundi; and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that opposes the government of Uganda.  Despite such obvious regional challenges, very little has been done to achieve a lasting peace in the Congo.