the confidence, brightest legal students, putting minds against the best means in africa would really be interesting to see how we miss uh, gather together for tournament. unlike any other top me expressing maybe the apps we can cause a human and people. that's why it's now invest in weakness for couldn't move on out . is there a warning is of a dire humanitarian crisis in the democratic republic of congo, the u. n says 25000000 people urgently need assistance. for decades, long conflict has taken its toll on civilians, but it is enough being done to ended. and what role the regional players have. this is inside story, the

hello and welcome to the program. i'm how much enjoy them. for years, the democratic republic of congo has been trapped in a cycle of conflict with devastating consequences for its people. the latest escalation and violence between the military and m. 23 on group has forced 7400000 people from their homes in 2 years. the united nation says more than 25000000 people are in desperate need of aid. and this warrant, the latest empty 23 activity in the east carries the very real risk of provoking a wider regional conflict. what will it take to bring peace to the r c? and is there a role it's neighbors can play to prevent the violence from spreading? well, they'll deeper into the topic shortly, but 1st, this report fine. ok, so assignment which this is what temple a commercial hobby these through the democratic republic of congo. people here say they live in fear as the battles between the army and m. 23 fighters having testified recently the arm group captured the nearby lou barrow town. 1000 split.

what is happening now in pre tempo is very wiring and people are leaving in real panic. this is all because of what is going on in the territory. every vera were rebels are advancing towards our city. so we cannot continue to see people killed because of their identity or for lack of i. d. this is too much and must stop. more than 120 rubble groups operate the eastern d r. c. fighting for control over land and natural resources. the most prominent is the m 23. i think to see fighters based in the north cable province. this conflict began 2 years ago. the army grew up accuses the government of failing to protect is from who to rebels, who floods want that to the genocide in 1994 and settled in the eastern d r. c. but the government blames neighboring lawanda saying it's support for the m

to a the 3 has, let's do the increase in violence. we are faced with an influx and an aggression from our neighboring country. rhonda that has sent over 4000 troops that have fueled must've displacement crisis in eastern d r. c. the un estimate 7400000 people have been forced from their homes to point 8000000 in north cuba alone. it also says the d r. c has the highest number of people in need of so many tearing aided the world about 40 percent of the population. that is 40800000 people, just the sheer size of it. face serious food shortages with 15700000, facing severe food in security. and as a result, a higher risk for mal nutrition and infectious diseases directly related to that. if you meet action is not taken to address basic needs and 0,

see over 1000000 children will suffer from acute mel nutrition. families seek shelter in overcrowded in under resource displacement camps. water and sanitation systems can not handle the influx. outbreaks of color of measles and plague had been reported. accessor baited by flash flooding and lens slides. the bullet dial situation prevents humanitarian agencies from reaching those in need. a 2 week truce announced by the united states earlier this month, collapse within days. both sides are accused of violations. and now do you and warrants if the conflict in the eastern v r c isn't a result soon. it could lead to a wider regional or ex, those i moved out to 0 for inside story the. all right, let's go ahead and bring in our guests from goma in the eastern democratic republic

of congo were joined by emily cotton. and although a peace activist who advocates for the rights of women, she grew up in the area at the center of the conflict and contrast to is greg ramsey, the r c country director for save the children. he's written extensively about the impact of the current violence on children and in cape town, south africa, crystal order. son is a journalist for the africa report, a quarterly magazine that focuses on african politics and economic. she's been a decade reporting from comfort zones on the continent. a warm welcome to you want and thanks so much for joining us today on inside story. emily, i want to start with you today. we're talking about the humanitarian situation. in the d r c, and i want to go to you 1st because you were born in goma, you grew up there, i read where you've said that you've never known p. so i want to ask you how dire is the situation there? how hard has life been for you for your loved ones and for other members of the population? and you, uh, i just said i'm

a community is born and grew up in grandma the eastern part of the d r. c. i've never seen this. i've never known peace today. i'm 31 years old and i grew up knowing that they come to be on 9 pm will see of the tilt. all right, and this really ask thing to me personally, as a young woman up to this and defend our women's rights. because i find myself unable to meet the needs of us, of especially the young girls in the come pool selling their abilities to survive. and it's called as somebody will say, it's all i can do is to make them aware that they have rights and also telling them about the agent. also, the consequences. consequences of prosecution. greg, greg, the world health organization says that more than 25000000 people are in desperate

need of aid in the d. r. c. and the more than a 1000000 children there are teetering on the brink of a cute malnutrition. i wonder if you could just give our viewers a snapshot from, from your point of view as to how dire the situation has gone. whether such as 6 are, are accurate and the situation is truly dire. 7.4000000 people are displaced from their homes, leading conflict more than half of them children. as recently, visiting the camps outside of coma. and you see children sleeping on basically bare law with a bit of shooting attempt. not enough to eat, not enough water out of school. desperate need of health care. people need the assistance they need piece and they need somebody to turn assistance just to help with basic survive. chris, so i wonder if you could, could also sort of help us understand just how bad the situation has gotten when it

comes to when it comes to the violence. how volatile have things gotten? how much is fighting escalated between the congolese army and in 23 fighters? and i think this is a silent genocide. wish thing to think about it for the last 2 years. and as my colleagues pointed out, the absolute dire situation on the ground. and i think in south africa it's especially become a big issue because based thousands of south african troops. now, i think in the north, i'm fighting alongside the congress east army as the and in 23. so it's become quite a local issue because these, of course, they hear reports coming from a condo that's of african soldiers dying. we do see that we have a new cabinet with new ministers, including defense, minnesota. and the pretty that is actually a full number. the 3 general,

so domestically there is a big push and the humanitarian crisis unfolding. the is, of course, a major concern. and i think these are reviewed political push, at least from south africa, even that it's contributed the most troops to that side. the commission in the, the r c that these are real pushed to a political piece pro face to happen. and in fact the, in the come. ready days um, this new minister of the scenes will be heading to zambia. we started take, the political organ will be leaking and i think the east coast, the situation in the d. r 6 will be one of the main gene. the points being discussed by those ministers, but i don't think one can take away the absolute humanitarians as oscar happening. and i think the patients on the ground for the lead is to actually find a peaceful solution. and i think people's, of course all impatient because i think when we talk again later in the week,

those statistics would have increased because every day we hearing reports of the dire situation on the ground. emily, i want to come back to you and i'm a thank you for sharing your personal story because it helps our viewers to sort of get beyond the headlines of the story and really look at it. you know, from a more human perspective. you've also written that you believe that the most effective way to empower women in north keeble in the d r. c is to transform their lives through economic independence. and i want to ask you how difficult that mission is and, and how, how is one able to do that given the current climate as thank you this, but so the, you money to run a, the specific needs of women display. so i'm not taking these phone calls and they, i imagine big to kids are not sufficient. so we've been trying to,

to help them to, to, to, to help them to know how to do something so that they can catch up for band thing to do small businesses. and also to just to initiate them to walk. that's we have the 9 in our center because we have a center just to me as a comp of blanco. and we select 10 to 100 women who are very, very um, you know, critical situation. we initiate them to some economic um economy a walk and that's really help them because they have changed a global credit where they can um, credits and also go and, and buy something, sell them and come again to pay that credit and get on of the amount we are trying to insure women to different activities that we have like um

and like solving like us just a venting uh some land. so i'm really getting some budget simple that they quote they can, they can eat and they can keep up, but that they can go and sell and doing something just to, to get the things for their needs. and what was the, the situation is very but, and then come and women really self funding. the only way that we can help them to not be at to not be ripped when they go to french for, for like, for something 2 weeks, we can keep them into our, you know, uh, center, and help them to do something that's gonna happen every day. and gripped greg, you heard emily there, talk about the dire situation, the cam so that i want to ask you a little bit more about that. i want to talk specifically about the ripple effects of all of this. if the already catastrophic situation,

the d r. c is leading to further mass displacements. doesn't that only over whelmed water system, sanitation systems that are already stressed in, in these camps and in areas where the displaced go and then doesn't that lead to outbreaks of diseases like like color. i mean, i mean, how much worse is the situation getting the situation is getting worse and you are right that that displacement does have multiple effects. for example, reason displacement has gone into the area nova, not the northern part of south cuba. schools that were part recently induced has now been emptied to house, displaced people. so not only other children that displaced out of school. but the children who were in the studying, disclosing the nova, our ours are also not in school. it overwhelms water sanitation systems. as you met, there's not enough food to go around. and it also leads to conflict and violence.

so not only do we have the pop, the violence and the challenges of, of our groups, the many are groups that, that your piece spoke about. a man with guns running around the drum and other places uh wrong with others, but also just pressure on families of living in the, in the circumstances that you're seeing here. the, the, the effects of displacement, of having 7000000 people were living in their homes are living in these crowded and when conditions is difficult for everybody, for children, for their families. and we must find a solution to this crisis crystal a minute ago, you were talking about static, that's the south, the southern african development community. and there is this savvy mission. it's a peacekeeping mission of the r c led by south africa. i want to ask you if that has done anything to improve the situation or if there is the prospect of helping to de escalate the tensions in d r. c. so based close to 5000 troops. um,

south africa attends india and belie we make up the specific um to people we make a scene in the country since december, but only have a one year mandate. so once we find the status of peacekeeping missions, and this new b, p 2 minus the, all these things always very pro active and he's only been in the office one week already said that frustrated the mandate of the perhaps need to change from a peacekeeping mission to actually taking on the m 23 level and other arm groups. but i think at the moment they are really struggling. they are ill equipped. they know they don't have the facilities that they need to actually meet to to, to fight the m 23 levels. and other groups, and so i think unfortunately, we've not seen a success of this to deployment and you're in south africa, it's becoming quite a big political issue because i'm close to 10 south african soldiers. i've already

died since the deployment in december. and they're basically based off coast questions being asked about the role of the troops. however, the south african authorities remain stage pos that as part of a regional block and sort of africa being of the biggest economy in frederick the heck to contribute to peaceful the. i also think best off we could believe they have a line to president felix richard city. actually bringing to the table to stop and go share anything or spoke again, make sure that's what the south african officials are hoping for. i think on the ground, and i think i'm in the congo and in the wind. i've seen too. that's not going to happen any time soon. emily from your vantage point, what immediate steps need to be taken to address the basic needs of those most affected by the conflict really,

really basic needs that the women once in the calm, they really want to that i can they, i think need to kids to be to be a to be available because most of them they are going through different disease because of not having enough work. so enough is enough me enough that something to, to respond to the a specific specific needs. and also the, they really need assistance in the day i need you to have prim primary needs because when they go to the field, they go because they have to to treat their children. and if they don't have that, something to eat, that's something to, for the each agent the, they are no big there. know like credited the difference a difference. it's,

well, it's also a big thing. we'll fig, she'll buy them then let's they needs it's a 2 but to have to be able to get something to it's and also for this specific needs. greg, i want to talk for a minute about another aspect in this crisis. say the children reported in march that the spike and violence and the north keeble region that had forced $540.00 schools to close in the past year. how chaotic does that make the situation for children? how much does it increase the risk of that they could be recruited by armed forces or forced into work all of that, rob children of their childhood. and just, you know, there's no risk to whole generation growing up without knowing what school is without knowing what pieces as emily has spoken about. so, so,

so what is needed is an end to the heart of the enter the conflict. we're in the midst of a 2 weeks mediterranean ceasefire. it's not perfect, but it is holding conflict is found that needs to be extended. civilians need to be protected, whether those are schools or health clinics, or simply the camps where people are living right now. finding this taking place in an around the caps schools are attacked, health clinics are attacked. that needs to stop or whatever. fighting is going on, civilians, children, families, people waiting for their lives should not be further attacked. and finally, maurice is are due to the school is displaced, assistance is needed as health care facilities, our attack that health drug needed food and water is and is it to cystic. you show just a few minutes ago. it shows the car to mandatory responses deeply under find the congo is often far from the headlines. we appreciate the coverage that i'll do, sir, is giving to this crisis much, much more needs to be done. greg,

let me just follow up on a point you just made it talking about, you know, how difficult it's been to actually get the funding you need. there was a, a $2600000000.00 funding plan for d r c. i read that that's only about 26 percent funded according to the u. n. why is that? if it's such a dire crisis, why is it so difficult to get the kind of funds that organizations need in order to get so much needed a to the population? i think there's 22 big reasons. first, globally, doris, somebody's mandatory in cartridge. you say the world is on fire and every place you look at every region of a welders crises due to met attorneys. unfortunately, some policies are better funded than others. and every ukrainian child who's leading that crisis have you created and reference your needs all the assistance and deserves all assistance. they can get the soda, the children of africa, sort of the children of colorado. and unfortunately,

we find that the world has not allocate resources fairly, truly based on the amount of turn, the, there's too much politics in that we need to take politics out of the manager and assistance. and i'm sure that those words needed most starting in the caps and displays caps, of the congo, where there is not enough resources to the basic basic human need. crystal, anywhere speaking earlier about how it didn't seem like, you know, the prospects looked very good when it comes to trying to de escalate things. um, there was a 2 week truce that had been announced by the us earlier this month, but that collapsed within days. what needs to happen and, and who, who could play a productive role in, in trying to de escalate. thanks a i think we have to talk about the one the we have to talk about the come release government. because we call in just as a token, as agents and as much as they doing incredible work, they also needs to be somebody able of accountability from the congo lease

government. so we do now see presidents collect future katie. he has these cabinets in playstation. um, so at least from a subject point of view, they want a stable conduct with a government that has the bandage over to people. and of course, we know that as much as the one that has the ease and continued to deny the support of the him. 23 rebels. we soul with the needs rescreened you. when we expect panel report, again pointing fingers actual one don't also of the regional actors and countries. and so what i think is needed, and at least what we get gather from south african official. you need a political system and you need gigi katie, anchor gummy. around this table. you start talking about the real situation on the ground and to bring about peace. it has happened before in 202012. we had mediation if it's insulated by south africa that actually ensured that the cons because in

the south africa's hoping they can do the same. but it's 12 years later geopolitically the world is fundamentally changed. i think also um the east being so my little reach these so many play as an actors involved in expecting a resources and making money. oh, but at the expense of the people that are dying and being displaced. but i think this week at least going to be interesting to watch aside big political the this we think exam the to discuss the d r c. and i think one cannot ignore the, the importance of a regional body and keeping me the dish to actually talk doc, this ending and pushing florida political situation. and i do think, i'm sorry, i forget, at least we'll be up in the pre shifts, at least on the president for the extra security to actually start talking about peace. but if you know that is what one is hoping for, chris,

let me also just ask you about something you just made mention of how much have mineral resources been a factor in this protracted crisis and conflict? i think it's been a big crack then. i mean, i'm the east as one of the, just the region school africa and the global, the bond for you because as a teacher means that the resources in the east is needed. and i do think that that is a big pay. and we, we, hutch from companies, authorities, i'm giving us the amounts of the extraction of the amount of resources that have significant treatment legally. and i do think that plays a role in fueling the conflict. we know that in 23 and the way it's all, it's pretty sophisticated that is coming from some way. i can pay the ill equipped by the commission. that is the and i think we cannot take the fact that the east,

the so reach of the table and how that is also using the conflict. emily, i know that your work is focused on, on helping women and empowering women. i don't want to ask you about the fact that you've written, the congo. these women have always been marginalized from the decision making processes to dictate their freedoms. how difficult, or how much more difficult has that made the situation for them. it includes the women really exclude from uh so oh, negotiations. oh no. we choose the both of these and we have been mobilizing other women to, to, to reach the position of that think on speak for vessels and also they can go to good for restoring, facing our country. and we recently, la copa lies a we meant to go to breakfast, invited to the, to the side of the,

of nairobi. and women was there, but do i'm not actually getting paid that he did, they were just outside to dig guns, seats on the table to speak for themselves to express their i need also to give their ideas for the restoration of the be. so that is really pushing us again to, to continuous time. sometimes we meant to also inform them about the rights and also to, to be part of the process. because when they come speak about the specific needs of women without dental speaking for this. so that is a little while we continue to push back. so that's been kind of us us that's sitting on the table and took up both. oh wow. real problem and also to give our contribution to the story and both of these. all right,

well we have run out of time, so we're going to have to leave the conversation there today. thanks so much to our guest, emily cuts on dolo greg graham and chris to order some and thank you to for watching . you can see the program again any time by visiting our website. i'll just share a dot com and further discussion, go to our facebook page that's face dot com, forward slash ag inside story. you can also join the conversation on x r handle is at a j inside story for me and how much enrolled in the whole team here, bye for now, the, the african stories from african perspective was able to know, i mean, that rock band. i do have black and simple. my thing to show documentary is by african filmmakers from morocco and kenya.

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