09/07/23 09/07/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the relationship between russia and ukraine is marred by a long history. putin is the russian nationalist. they see the separate existence of ukrainians as something which will link to the destruction not only of the so-called russian

civilization state but also the body of the russian nation itself. amy: as 17 ukrainians are killed in a russian missile strike in a market in donetsk, united states pledges more for ukraine, we $1 billion will speak with activists from ukraine and russia who are a joint speaking tour of the united states. we will look at the humanitarian crisis in the democratic republic of the congo as well. >> what we saw and heard in the democratic republic of congo was shocking, heartbreaking, and sobering. we have seen in the past 18 months, the humanitarian situation in the eastern congo has deteriorated to an alarming extent. it is the worst situation we have ever seen with around 8 million people in need of urgent

humanitarian assistance. amy: we will speak to jan egeland, the secretary general of the norwegian refugee council. he is just back from the drc. we will also talk with him about the humanitarian crisis in afghanistan. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a russian missile struck a crowded outdoor market in ukraine's eastern donetsk region wednesday, killing at least 17 people, including a child, and injuring 32 others. it was one of the deadliest attacks in ukraine in months. diana khodak, who works in a pharmacy next to the market, described the attack. >> wonder woman walked into the pharmacy on her own. she was bleeding. another woman was carried inside by soldiers. amy: in russia, officials say one person was injured and at

least three buildings and several cars were destroyed as a ukrainian drone struck wednesday near the headquarters of russia's southern military district command in the city of rostov. romania's president said wednesday parts of a russian drone were found on his territory following a russian assault on a ukrainian port earlier this week. the president said romania remains on alert after the attack and is in contact with the nato allies. >> if it is confirmed these elements belong to a russian drone, such a situation would be completely inadmissible and a serious violation of the sovereign entity and tutorial integrity -- territorial integrity of romania, nato ally. nico a decree came amidst heavy

fighting -- amy: decree came amidst heavy fighting in sudan. dozens were injured in the city. on wednesday, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations visited sudanese refugees in chad where she announced new u.s. sanctions on leaders of the rss over widespread human rights abuses. in gabon, leaders of last week's coup said wednesday ousted president ali bongo has been released from house arrest and is free to seek medical care abroad. >> the former president of the republic ali bongo is free to move about. he may, if he wishes, travel abroad for medical checkups. amy: ali bongo suffered a stroke five years ago that left him partially paralyzed. members of his family, including his wife and son, remain under house arrest. they're accused of high treason for looting gabon's treasury and enriching themselves at the expense of give on.

-- gabon. the world food programme says it will further slash the amount of humanitarian assistance it provides to afghanistan, where more than 15 million people face severe food insecurity. wfp afghanistan country director hsiao-wei lee blamed a lack of funding for the latest cuts, which will see the u.n. agency provide emergency food aid to just 3 million afghans. >> this month we are having to reduce another 2 million. that means 10 million people that we had served previously and who need assistance are going to bed hungry without any food assistance. amy: we'll have more on the humanitarian crises in afghanistan, as well as the democratic republic of the congo and elsewhere, later in the broadcast with jan egeland, secretary general of the norwegian refugee council. the biden administration said it is canceling all existing oil and gas drilling leases in the arctic national wildlife refuge in alaska and banning drilling on 13 million acres, or over half of the national petroleum reserve. but the new regulations will not

block the $8 billion willow project, which biden approved earlier this year, despite widespread objections from environmentalists and indigenous activists. climate activists are calling on the biden administration to go further and end all oil and gas drilling. a judge in georgia has ruled that two of donald trump's co-defendants in the state's election subversion case will be tried together beginning on october 23. fulton county judge scott mcafee on wednesday granted a request by sidney powell and kenneth chesebro for a speedy trial in the case, though he denied their request to be tried separately. in colorado, a new lawsuit seeks to bar donald trump from the 2024 presidential ballot. six colorado voters argue trump's actions before, during, and after the january 6, 2021 insurrection disqualify him from running. they cite the 14th amendment. meanwhile, a federal judge in new york has found donald trump liable for defaming writer e. jean carroll for a second time.

trump continued to mock and disparage carroll even after a new york jury earlier this year ordered him to pay $5 million to carroll for sexually abusing her at a department store in the 1990's and defaming her. u.s. district judge lewis kaplan said a trial in january will be limited to determining how much to award e. jean carroll in further damages. the senate's top republican says he has no plans to retire and will finish his term. 81-year-old senate minority leader mitch mcconnell made the remarks wednesday amid widespread speculation over his health following a series of falls, a concussion, and two recent incidents where he froze up while answering reporters' questions. >> [indiscernible] do you have any plans to retire anytime soon? >> i have no announcements to make on that subject.

i am going to finish my senate term. amy: this week, mcconnell released a letter from congress's attending physician, who said tests had ruled out a stroke or seizure. the special counsel investigating president biden's son says he will seek a criminal indictment against hunter biden on tax and gun charges after a -- by september 29 after a judge in july rejected a previous plea deal that would have seen biden avoid jail time. in mexico, the former mexico city mayor claudia sheinbaum was selected by the governing morena party as its candidate for the 2024 presidential elections. president andres manuel lopez obrador is not eligible to run again since leaders can only serve a single six-year term according to mexico's constitution. sheinbaum, a close ally of amlo, is seen as a favorite ahead of next june's election, as morena rules 22 of mexico's 32 states. she spoke after her selection was announced. >> today democracy won.

today the people of mexico decided and i am the national coordinator to defend a transformation based on the people of mexico's decision. this work is teamwork. amy: last week, an opposition coalition selected its presidential candidate, lawmaker xochitl galvez, meaning the two top contenders are women and mexico is expected to elect its first woman president. half of mexico's congress is female and its cabinet is gender-balanced. in more news from mexico, the nation's supreme court has decriminalized abortion, ruling bans on the procedure are a violation of human rights. abortion is still considered in two thirds of mexican states, but people in those states can now receive abortions at federal medical facilities and states will be barred from penalizing those patients and providers. it's part of a wave of abortion rights victories across latin america. colombia, argentina, uruguay, and guyana have also moved to

either legalize or decriminalize abortion. meanwhile, here in the united states, anti-abortion crusaders are pushing new measures to make abortion access even more challenging. texas cities and counties are passing new laws that criminalize driving through them to get to an abortion provider. new data shows abortions increased in the first half of the year in states that still allow the procedure. those states have been absorbing patients forced to travel from places where abortions were banned following the overturning of roe v wade last summer. a federal judge on wednesday ordered texas governor greg abbott to remove his dangerous floating border barrier in the rio grande. the justice department sued over the barrier in july, which has already been implicated in at least two migrant deaths and many more injuries. the 1000-foot-long line of buoys are separated by circular saw blades. governor abbott has already appealed the order. the immigrant legal resource center called the buoys "a symbol of the hate-filled and inhumane policies governor

abbott has embraced as he continues to wage war on immigrants. the beautiful rio grande river has been turned into a militarized zone." in spain, soccer star jenni hermoso has filed a sexual assault criminal complaint against luis rubiales, the head of the spanish soccer federation president who forcibly kissed her during the world cup trophy ceremony. the sexual assault was witnessed live by millions of people who were tuning in to celebrate spain's historic victory. rubiales has been temporarily suspended by fifa, while the team's coach was fired. hermoso's teammates vowed not to play for the national team again unless management was changed. meanwhile, protesters have been taking to the streets in spain in solidarity with jenni hermoso. >> this is a crime. this is clearly sexual harassment under spanish law. not only spanish law, but under

european law. it is considered sexual abuse and it is a crime. amy: county has exonerated a -- here in new york, a court in westchester county has exonerated a black man nearly 48 years after he was wrongfully convicted on rape charges. leonard mack served more than seven years in prison after a jury found him guilty in 1975. dna evidence has since eliminated him as the perpetrator and identified a different man, who has since confessed to the crime. the innocence project says it's the longest-ever wrongful conviction to be overturned by dna evidence. mack was officially exonerated on tuesday, his 72nd birthday. >> i think god -- thank god that finally the truth came out and now i can truly say -- now i can truly say that i am free. amy: and acclaimed documentary

filmmaker nancy buirski has died at 78. her first film, "the loving story," chronicled the relationship which led to the supreme court's landmark decision legalizing interracial relationships. it won a peabody for its "gorgeous and sympathetic telling of a couple's fight to persevere in the face of injustice." she founded and for 10 years run a full frame documentary film festival. in 2017, she appeared on democracy now! to talk about her film "the rape of recy taylor" about a 24-year-old black sharecropper who was gang-raped in 1944 and refused to be silenced. this is nancy buirski in the democracy now! studio. >> receipt taylor is -- recy taylor is amazingly courageous for speaking up. as you mentioned, very few women did that. they were afraid for their lives. their families would be threatened, and their friends' livelihoods would be threatened. so, what she did was extraordinary. and, you know, we made this film before this #metoo movement. we had no idea that this would all erupt. but now, as i look back on it, i

realize that recy taylor's story is the first link in a long chain. not even the first link. it really goes back to slavery. but it is a very pivotal link in a chain that goes right through the civil rights movement, right up through black power, and obviously is resolved today. amy: to see the whole interview, you can go to democracynow.org. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, we speak to activists from ukraine and russia on a joint speaking tour of the united states to speak out against the war. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "right now the best" by zach bryan. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world.

we begin today's show looking at the war in ukraine. on wednesday, a russian missile hit an outdoor market in ukraine's eastern donetsk region, killing 17 and injuring 32. it was one of the deadliest attacks in ukraine in months. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy condemned the "utter inhumanity" of the attack. diana khodak, who works in a pharmacy next to the market, described the missile strike. >> i only saw a flash and i shouted to my colleagues, line the floor. all of the customers laid on the floor. i heard things falling over and everything was covered in smoke and a fire started. one woman walked into the pharmacy on her own. her arm and leg were bleeding. she had a big wound on her arm. another woman was carried inside by soldiers. she had an open fracture and her bone was sticking out from her

leg. she was very pale. she remained conscious. amy: the attack on the ukrainian market occurred as u.s. secretary of state tony blinken made a surprise visit to kyiv where he met with president zelenskyy. blinken announced $1 billion in new u.s. aid to ukraine. >> we will continue to stand by ukraine's side and today we are announcing new assistance totaling more than $1 billion. that includes $665.5 million in new military and civilian security assistance. in total, we committed over $43 billion since the beginning of the russian aggression. amy: in moscow, the kremlin criticized blinken's visit saying it is proof that the u.s. plans to keep funding ukraine's war effort "until the last ukrainian." we are joined now by two activists -- one russian, one ukrainian. they are on a speaking tour in the united states organized by the ukraine solidarity network, a group which supports ukraine's

struggle for self-determination. ilya budraitskis is a russian historian and political theorist who was previously based in moscow and recently joined uc berkeley as a visiting scholar. he is co-founder of posle, a network of russian intellectuals in exile who oppose the war against ukraine. he's the author of the award-winning book "dissidents among dissidents: ideology, politics and the left in post-soviet russia." hanna perekhoda is a historian at the university of lausanne. she is a member of the ukrainian democratic-socialist organization called sotsialnyi rukh. she is also part of the european network for solidarity with ukraine. we welcome you both to new york and to the united states and to democracy now! hanna, can you describe what is happening to your country now?

your response to the latest attack in the donetsk region? are you from the donetsk region? >> yeah, basically, the essence of this war is the same as one year before. that means most of the ukrainians living in any part of the country are facing the threat of russian missiles targeting their residential areas because russia has engaged itself in a strategy of terror against civilians. this continues as we can witness it with this horrible attack on the city of the donetsk region. i am from this region. it is very painful for me to see all of the streets and cities that i spent my childhood in to

be completely destroyed by the ongoing war. but also what defines this war is the fact a big part of the ukrainian territories are still under the russian occupation. civilians living in this territory are facing torture, murder, rape and also forced displacement as well as mass kidnapping of children who are sent to russia in order to be reeducated. this is something that we must not forget that is the reality of this war is still horrible. but also something which is not

fading away is the consensus among the ukrainian population even despite all of the political disagreements in ukraine. it is a complex society. all the citizens of ukraine are united by a strong consensus that only our capability to liberate the whole territory of ukraine could be preconditioned for the lasting peace for ukraine and the whole region because russia and putin partial open new -- openly denying the right of ukrainians to exist as a state and as a separate society from russia. nermeen: could you elaborate on

that, the sense that you have of what the trajectory and the purpose of this war are now for russia and where you see this going? >> i will try to summarize it because it is not an easy war to understand maybe from outside. but basically, this war is not a response for some external military threat for russia emanating, but a response of the russian oligarchs to the internal threat, to their power. because russian civil society was quite active the last years. and also being on the threat of democratizing russian society,

putin and his clan tried to eliminate all possible democratizing tendencies in the neighborhood. that is why the war in ukraine was provoked by russia in 2014. that is why also putin invaded it. and it is necessary to understand the reasons of this war are internal to russia and has more to do with internal politics than with some external international relations between russia and, for example, the western countries. actually, we see that we don't have an easy exit from this situation because putin doesn't

seem to show any clear demands of what he actually wants from ukraine. i think this war is not about territories, it is about the full control of ukraine in order to prevent it to become a prosperous and democratic country because it may awaken some dangerous ideas among russians themselves who are also tired of the autocratic regime and of the extreme inequality in russia. so basically, the danger of this war that even if somehow ukraine seeds some part of territories or even the whole territory of ukraine would belong to russia, the war would continue because any democratic country on the borders of russia is a threat of putin's regime.

nermeen: ilya budraitskis, we have had you on the show a few times, the first time just weeks before the russian invasion and then on two subsequent occasions when we did not disclose your location know you had fled the country and now you are at uc berkeley. if you could talk about what the situation now is in russia, respond to what hanna said about the protests that began in russia in 2011, how they were connected -- you said over the last several years the russian population has been preparing or has been prepared for this war. talk about what you know the situation there on the ground now. >> yes, thank you. basically, i agree with what hanna was saying. this criminal war is not just

against ukraine, it is war of the russian regime against its own society. this war started not just a year ago, it started, as you said, from 2011. then in 2014 with annexation of crimea. and you see a combination of the external and internal goals of putin's regime in his actions against his own population and against his neighbors. so definitely, this war is ongoing to save the regime, to strengthen its power over its own population. but it is also about imperialist

conditions of putin's russia in the post-soviet space and probably ukraine will be not the last goal of this oppression if the conflict will continue in different ways and this regime will continue to exist. so as you mentioned, in 2011, putin was challenged by a movement for democratization of political system for retribution of the wealth of the country. and the annexation of crimea, rallied around the flag that appeared in russian society

after -- was the answer of the regime of the democratic challenge. then even just a few years before the full skill invasion, -- full-scale invasion, also saw the rise of a movement, a protest movement of the more younger generation that was not participating in 2011. and the full-scale invasion of ukraine somehow marked a significant turn of putin's regime, which became open and extremely repressive dictatorship. so for now in russia, have much more political prisoners that you had for example in the late soviet period.

you also have censorship, an atmosphere of fear, more and more repressive measures coming from the government. but somehow we see even in this very dramatic situation, there are still many of dissent in russian society. amy: i want to ask hanna perekhoda, antony blinken just went to kyiv in a surprise visit and he made the announcement of $1 billion more in aid to the ukraine war. the counteroffensive, very difficult, the u.s. is now apparently going to promise depleted uranium, before that poster bums violating the treaty -- not that the u.s. has signed on to but 110 other countries have signed onto against cluster bombs. i am wondering about your

thoughts on the war? it sounds like for many, it there's a lot of pressure to say the war must be supported at any cost because otherwise it means russia can perhaps take over ukraine or parts of ukraine very significantly. but you are on an antiwar speaking to her. >> yeah, actually, for ukraine, this is the war of self-defense. i think it is important to make the difference between the use of violence with the aim of aggression and the use of violence for the aim to protect your own existence. this is why in ukraine, as i said, although the civic and political organizations are united by this consensus that --

political life in ukraine, for example, the life of civil society is possible under the -- is not possible under the condition of foreign occupation. occupation by foreign army, which actually commit war crimes. so that is why the support from other states and weapons are essential for ukrainians in order to sustain their effort in order to liberate the territory. this is not just about liberating the territories, this is about liberating the cities where our families and friends are living under the constant threat and under the danger of being raped and murdered by the occupying forces. and the fact countries like our partners continue to sustain

military is really essential, but i don't think that ukraine actually receives enough to be really able to be in a better position and to regain its territories and, for example, start negotiations from a strong position. yes, so the question of weapons is essential to us because the question of our survival as a society and of our political, you can of sovereignty. of course, nobody once the war to continue, especially ukrainians. but i think we must remember crazy compromise with an aggressor has never brought peace to anyone. it brought a total war in 1939,

for example. so when we are faced with this kind of russian state, authoritarian force, we must act in order to defend such things that often would take for granted being here in the western countries. and that is what ukrainians are doing. if we do not support them in this struggle and if we let russian authoritarians win, it will mean the authoritarian forces also in our country will become stronger. so this is basically one of the demands and the position we share, both progressives in ukraine, antiwar russian forces

-- we share this perspective that the development of our societies, peaceful life in both ukraine and russia is only possible if ukraine wins. nermeen: ilya, could you also talk about that, where you see the war going, what the trajectory is? and talk about the changes that have been instituted domestically within russia recently, in particular, the controversy around new history textbooks that are being taught in high schools and increasing the age of conscription to increase the numbers of russian men eligible for service in the military. >> all your questions somehow relate to each other because all it showed putin basically is

preparing to continue this war, to prepare his population -- his citizens to become soldiers, to become war meat, to give their flesh and blood there. as hanna just said, there are not any clear goals of russia in this war. it is always changing. from one side you can hear that russia just wants to give the territory that it already controls in the same time you hear regularly from putin that final goals of so-called special military operation must be achieved in the final goal is

the control over all ukraine. it is a regime change of ukraine. it is what putin, demilitarization. these goals are still there. so it seems his strategy depends on what he could gain. and he will gauge from the situation as much as possible until he will be stopped at some point. in this sense, i think that significant unsuccess of russian troops will create a basis for some peace talks, will

give ukraine much stronger position in these peace talks. so in russia, well, you see the preparation for the next draft so the rise of the age for the men for the draft now came from 27 to 30. according to new russian laws, when you got the letter from army in the same moment, in the same minute, you are not allowed to leave the country. your drivers license will be suspended and so on. so basically, it is very strict,

very repressive enforced conscription to the russian army. as you mention from the beginning of this, in school, in universities, the number of new forces, so-called patriotic forces, were introduced. for example, in universities now, it is obligatory for all the students to take a so-called russian course. that means the essence of russian spate, the essence of russian history which is sort of -- for the glory of the country, the glory of the empire, the

permanent expansion of its borders somehow rooted in blood, spirit of every russian. it is very much similar to the fascist ideas, for example, the ideas of mussolini the state is not just an institution but a kind of spiritual force, spiritual entity. so all that is definitely very scary and all of that ongoing preparation for the long-term war from the side of russia. amy: hanna perekhoda, you are ukrainian historian and

socialist, i would ask about the concerns of people who say neo-nazis in ukraine are being strengthened by u.s. support of the west's support for the war. we had on a journalist who said asov is a hub for neo-nazis to come to ukraine from places the west to learn to fight, much like islamist in different parts of the middle east recruited islamic fighters. your response to this? >> well, there are a lot of things to say. first of all, about the mythology around the fact around this idea promoted by russia that ukraine is somehow has a large right wing groups who are numerous in exercising large influence on the ukrainian

politics, i would like to stress that even after the five years of the war in donbas after the crimean annexation, during the parliamentary elections, 2019, the coalition of extreme right of right-wing wing forces only had 2% of votes and did not manage to go to the parliament. so basically come ukrainian parliament, would not find right-wing parties represented. they were represented before 2014, but now this is not the case. also, after all these years of war, ukrainians, which are supposed to be like putin says right-wingers or he called them fascists, they elected a jewish russian speaking -- right wing

forces do exist. ukraine is a complex society not a high minute genic -- however, the extreme right wing forces did not manage to become a legitimate public -- subject and the institutional politics. yes, they are present in the army but they are present -- their presence is not diminished because, well, ukraine has one million soldiers now defending the territory of ukraine. 99% of these people are ordinary ukrainians. it is kind of strange to think ukraine is infiltrated -- ukrainian army is infiltrated by the nazis and the right wingers.

at the same time, you have the asov battalions but they were under volodymyr zelenskyy, losing their influence on the ukrainian army. so i don't want to say the problem of the right wing ideas or the right wing organizations doesn't exist in ukraine. of course it is existent. left-wing forces in ukraine are facing these problem, you know, very concrete way, very personal way. but also i think it could be an irresponsible thing to concentrate on the presence of right wing organizations in ukraine and to forget the extreme right in russia is actually in power and is currently waging a war of

aggression, a war that is justified by the kind of -- could be called an institution to genocide, though these things are kinda very serious. it is kind of a pity that there is this disproportional perception of the right wing threat in ukraine and russia. this is my response to that. it could be developed, of course -- maybe ilya could add something. amy: we actually have to leave it at this point but this is a discussion we will continue to have. hanna perekhoda, ukrainian historian, member of the european network for solidarity with ukraine. and ilya budraitskis, exiled russian historian and political theorist, author of "dissidents among dissidents: ideology, politics and the left in post-soviet russia." they are on a speaking tour of

the united states organized by the ukraine solidarity network. coming up, we speak to jan egeland, just back from the democratic republic of the congo. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "le bûcheron" by franklin boukaka. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: we turn now to the dramatic deterioration in the situation in the democratic republic of the congo, where rampant violence of armed groups has displaced more than half a million people in recent months. overall, more than 1.7 million have been forced to flee their homes. amy: the democratic republic of congo is also experiencing the largest hunger crisis in the world with 25 million people facing starvation. the humanitarian responses so far failed to address the crisis. for more, we are joined by jan egeland, secretary general of the norwegian refugee council, just back from the democratic republic of congo. can you lay out the crisis as you see it in drc and what the world needs to know, jan? >> the crisis is beyond belief, really. it is the worst hunger

catastrophe on earth. nowhere else in the world is there more than 25 million people experiencing violence, hunger, neglect, disease. nowhere in the world is there such a small international response to help, to aid, to end all of this suffering. we are governed by humanitarian principles. one of them is that needs alone should govern where we go and what we prioritize. and i would say as a humanity, we are really, really failing the congo now because it is not ukraine, not the middle east. it is that part of central africa where most children's lives are at risk at the moment. nermeen: jan egeland, if you could explain what led up to

this crisis reaching these proportions? why are 25 million people at the risk of hunger or facing extreme hunger in the drc? >> because such a large portion of this vast continent, which is the democratic republic of congo, is now ensconced in violence. you mention some of the figures in the intro to this conversation. that is from one providence only. it is in the north of eastern drc where i just visited. i was also elsewhere. in those two provinces, there are 150 armed groups. they are fighting against each other. they are fighting for territory, fighting against the regular

army. and the civilian population is in the crossfire. so people have come together in abject misery and hundreds of smaller camps. i visited several of those. we are able to give some shelter, some food, some assistance. but only to a minority, really, because small humanitarian appeal, plan resistance, is one third pundit. united states is giving half of the funding. too much of the world is giving nothing. and now there is a question of perhaps even reducing that aid assistance. it is terrible. amy: it is not as if the world

is ignoring the democratic republic of the congo. in fact, the drc produces nearly three quarters of the world's cobalt, an essential component of rechargeable batteries powering laptops, smart phones, and electric vehicles. the reason i bring this up, we just interviewed siddharth kara, author of "cobalt red: how the blood of the congo powers our lives." he said the public health catastrophe, top of the environmental destruction is unlike anything we have ever seen in the modern context was of the fact it is linked to companies worth trillions and that our lives depend on this enormous violence has to be dealt with. dude you see evidence of this? and how it links come talking about children age five and 10, working in these places -- all of the corporations make their profits yet the worst hunger crisis in the world. >> i did not see these companies and their extraction and their

vast bank accounts, what i saw was that children, the women -- abused women who are suffering from the conflicts fueled by this black economy, by these economic forces. again, that lead to 150 armed groups not lacking arms, not lacking fuel. the neighboring countries, several of them, also involved in this. i agree with you, the congo is not ignored by those who want to extract the richest of that place. it is ignored by the rest of the world who would want to come to the relief of the children and families of the congo because nowhere in the world is there so little aid, so little media attention, and so few effective diplomatic initiatives to

resolve the crisis. nermeen: jan, explain exactly where you went in the drc. and the people whom you spoke to, large number of whom women you spoke to had survived sexual violence will stop if you could talk about that? >> i came by the most important town in eastern congo next to one of the largest active volcanoes on earth. i saw camps north of the area where thousands of people are crammed together on this volcanic earth. it looks like a moonscape, really. there is no water. so why do people flock together in subhuman conditions? because it is safe from the armed groups who drive them from

their land. one of these groups called m23 has roots from foreign interests. they have been on a rampage of late. women talk about tremendous sexual abuse. mass gang rape when they go out of the camps to collect firewood or do any other necessary business. i met a schoolmaster who had 40 pupils in each class until the latest influx of people. now there were 80 schoolchildren in a small classroom every day. we helped extend the school. we built the trains that has led

to less cholera. then i went up to an area that is now ground zero for much of the conflict, next to uganda. what really shook me this time was to see people who had walked on their feedback from uganda to where they fled violence 2, 3, 4, five years ago, back to itori and say we were starving to death now in uganda because no one is feeding us there anymore as refugees. we came back here. it is better to die on our ancestral land than in a foreign land. these women had all stories of sexual abuse on the way because there were so many of these armed men on the road. amy: jan egeland, we just

reported in the headlines about the massive hunger crisis in afghanistan as well. we have spoken to you in afghanistan. the world food program single further slash the amount of assistance it provides there, where more than 15 million people face severe food insecurity, blaming of lack of funding on the latest codes which will see the u.n. agency provide aid to just really people. you have the massive hunger. and drc, the world. and yet our first segment was about the west pouring billions into though war in ukraine. can you talk about what needs to be done on a global perspective right now? >> what we need are summit meetings to deal with the exploding hunger crisis. we cannot call ourselves and

international civilization or a european civilization or american civilization unless we do something to avert this chronicle of unannounced famine that is going to grip from afghanistan to the congo to somalia, to yemen and so hail and beyond. the united states has been the most generous donor of the last years. united states is cutting 20% of its humanitarian assistance now and next year it will be further cuts in a situation where needs are exploding because of conflict and climate crisis. the europeans are not stepping up as they should be. and where are the gulf countries are the large asian economies? india -- you put on spaceships

on the backside of the moon, could you also help feed children in the congo? there has to be summit meetings with the bigger economies have to say, we cannot let the children massively die from hunger and neglect in 2023. nermeen: before we end, you also looked at the number of children in addition to the hunger situation, the number of children in the congo who are being prevented from receiving an education. one out of three. of every child in the congo. if you could talk about that? >> that is very important. why do we do education in situation where people cannot really feed themselves? because education is hope. hope to get out of the misery. so even starving parents and grandparents say, please come educate our children because

that could mean our community gets out of this dependence. we cannot live under dependence forever. so hundreds of schools have been destroyed or closed because of the violence, but hundreds of schools are also lacking the basic equipment to be running. we in the norwegian refugee council are able now to provide as of september thousands of children sort of catch up classes. these are used, 14-year-old, 15-year-old who have never been to school because they have been flaying all their lives, and they are able to go back to school now because we have some funding and from the u.s. and europe. if we got more funding, we could get to many more. there is hope. amy: jan egeland, secretary general of the norwegian refugee

council, just back from the democratic republic of congo. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]