Congo (DRC)

Michael Kavanagh, for the Pulitzer Center

Michael Kavanagh traveled to the DRC on a Pulitzer Center grant

Michael J. Kavanagh and Taylor Krauss highlight efforts to rehabilitate rape victims and their families in eastern Congo, presenting the ventures of one counseling organization.

War has raged through the Democratic Republic of Congo for more than a decade — it has been called the deadliest conflict since World War II.

The United Nations estimates that 200,000 women and girls have been raped in that time, some victims as young as three years old.

Both the Congolese army and rebel groups have used rape as a weapon of war.

The conflict in Congo is too complicated to explain in a five-minute video, so we've left most of the context out in order to focus on Pascal's story. For more background on the recent fighting, check out my Q&A on history, rebels and crisis in eastern Congo.

I've been reporting on DRC for five years now, and there's nothing that frustrates me more than the dismissive comments I often get about how conflict in Africa is endemic.

I wasn't surprised when the secret police stopped me and Michael Kavanagh as we headed out to film in Rutshuru [a town in North Kivu] in October. After all, it wasn't the first time I had been taken in by Congolese police for "carrying a camera," and "not having my paperwork in order."

The Democratic Republic of Congo has endured one of the world's bloodiest wars for over a decade. More than 5 million people have died, mostly from preventable disease and starvation.

In the last year alone, over a million people have fled the fighting in eastern Congo.

Michael will answer viewer questions about his experience in the Congo and the country's deteriorating situation on WorldFocus.org.

Michael Kavanagh of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting just returned from the battlegrounds of eastern Congo. He speaks with Martin Savidge about the roots of the ongoing conflict, the rebel demands and the worsening humanitarian crisis.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country again in turmoil. The latest violence involves a rebel general named Laurent Nkunda. Nkunda's managed to take over large swathes of eastern Congo with a small band of well-trained soldiers. Reporter Michael Kavanagh takes a look at the renegade general.

The conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo is threatening to become a full scale war. Last week, rebel commanders seized an army base and the headquarters of Congo's famous Virunga National Park. The latest round of fighting has seen a dramatic rise in the number of rapes. Some 200,000 people have been displaced since August, according to the World Food Program. That's in addition to the nearly 1.5 million people already displaced since 2007. The so–called "forgotten war" isn't over. We'll look into the history of the crisis in the Congo today.

In the North Kivu province of eastern Congo, people are living in ditches along the sides of roads. They're filling up the floors of churches and schools. Displaced people are surrounding the compounds of bewildered U.N. peacekeepers. Young boys and men are hiding in the forest to avoid being killed or forced into armed groups.

Recent fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo has forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes in the last week alone and humanitarian aid groups are overwhelmed. Many who need food and medical assistance can't be reached because of the fighting. As Michael Kavanagh shares in this Reporter's Notebook, the Congolese people have an unfortunate history of being left to their own devices.