The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), located in Central Africa, struggles daily because the government fails. The country has been in civil conflicts for nearly a decade, this however is not the main health hazard. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Congo was a popular location for slave trade, while foreign powers intruded they also exposed the area to their diseases that have remained for centuries. These diseases have developed
At these moments, life in the Congo is a living nightmare. The eastern provinces of the Congo see violence every day. Women are getting raped at alarming rates. Children are constantly abused and forced to become child soldiers. There are no sources of medicine or even clean water. Anyone can get murdered at any time, and no one is even safe in their own homes.
The history of the African continent has been marked by imperialism, oppression, violence and revolution. The history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, originally named the Belgian Congo is no different. The Democratic Republic of the Congo lies in the heart
During the 18th and early 19th centuries the Belgian took control over the Congo and colonized the area as their property. Near the same time the British wanted a location to colonize and make money eventually they took over India and began to colonize the majority of the area. Both the Belgian and British colonial practices similar in their methods that they used to control the area , but different in the treatment towards native people.
The Congo River Basin is also known as the Cuvette, which is French for "Basin." Rainfall is very plentiful in the Cuvette and it is dominated by dense rainforests. Though rain is plentiful the soil in this region is unfertile therefore resulting in a low population and very few farms.
Riches in central Africa. In what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, there was and still is a plethora of natural resources. Rubber, gold, copper, diamonds and more. That natural wealth has definitely hurt Congo in the past rather than helped. Its resources could have made it one of the wealthiest countries in the world. But yet, this future did not hold true for the Congo. At the turn of the 20th century, King Leopold II began to take notice of the central African country. (National Black United Front). King Leopold II communicated all his ideas and intentions through a speech to European missionaries. (Africa Global Network). In it, his words held the key to all things terrible. Soon, Belgium took over the Congo and began one of the
Where is the Congo? Who are they? What is the mighty Congo? The Congo refers to the large
Despite its immense potential, very little of this wealth has benefited the Congolese people. Instead, all of its riches have attracted adventurers, warlords, corrupt governments, and unscrupulous corporations, and divided the population into competing groups. This is the main source of the conflict that rids the majority of eastern DRC (“The world factbook,” 2017).
Firstly, the local people of Uganda are trying to over fish in this particular species, and that too mostly the females. This is because the females give birth to the off springs, and if they are all gone, there will be no more off springs, lowering the amount of fish.
Congo free state was first established in 1884. The colonial nations of Europe gave Leopold II of Belgium the authority to go and claim the Congo. They said that it would improve the lives of the natives that inhabited the land but that was evidently not the case. As soon as Leopold got over to the Congo, he had forgotten all about these promises. At first the drive for ivory was very prominent but eventually the want for rubber became a lot bigger. The machinery wasn't developed enough to do this so Leopold used what forces he had, manpower. The natives were forced into harvesting and processing rubber. This was a very physically demanding job because they had to climb up the trees to make big slashes into them and then go home and stir the liquid until it was in the right consistency to make the rubber. Each month, if someone didn’t meet the quota that was set out, they would get their hands or feet cut off. There was so many unthinkable things that occurred during this such as forced labour, beating, widespread killing and frequent mutilation. The estimated death toll was between 1 million to 15 million. Just looking at these few examples, the destructiveness of the Congolese people is quite clear. Today, the Congo is still a struggling country. It is very poor, unstable and corrupted because of the various wars and conflicts that happened in the history of the Congo. Because of the
Over the course of human history, many believe that the “Congo Free State”, which lasted from the 1880s to the early 1900s, was one of the worst colonial states in the age of Imperialism and was one of the worst humanitarian disasters over time. Brutal methods of collecting rubber, which led to the deaths of countless Africans along with Europeans, as well as a lack of concern from the Belgian government aside from the King, combined to create the most potent example of the evils of colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s. The Congo colonial experience, first as the Congo Free State then later as Belgian Congo, was harmful to that region of Africa both then and now because of the lack of Belgian and International
Congo is a region in sub-Saharan Central Africa, that was ruled by Belgium during an era of imperialism. Once Belgium retracted from the Congo there was a time of uprisings and political instability. The army became corrupt and leaders asked for outside help to try to control the Congo. If Patrice Lumumba had not been assassinated, then political stability might have been achieved. Patrice Lumumba started a nationalist movement to try to get Belgium to retract from the Congo, which was unsuccessful because Mobutu seized power with the support of a corrupt military.
The Central African Republic (CAR) is located in the heart of equatorial Africa. The country, with an estimated population of 4.4 million and a landmass of 622,984 sq km , is landlocked, sharing borders with Chad, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Republic of the Congo, and Cameroon. The country, a former colony of France (formerly known as Ubangi-Shari), gained independence on August 13, 1960. Like most former colonies, CAR was subject to interference in domestic affairs by its former colonizer. The French were linked to the death of Barthélémy Boganda, the country’s pre-independence leader . The French were also directly involved in several coups within the CAR.
I also consider the ways in which Congo’s various human rights violations are interconnected. I have also found that there is not enough emphasis given by scholars connecting the genocide and civil wars of Rwanda and other countries within the Great Lakes Region overflowing into the Congo. Throughout this paper, I will highlight the importance of the Rwandan genocide and ultimately its impact in the ‘resource curse’ epidemic in the Congo. I also found that power imbalance, poverty, and migration, led to the disorganization, rampant sexual violence, and societal discord within the state as a whole. This paper then delineates the ways in which the DRC had potential to exist as a thriving African country, but ultimately had failings that led to its current
Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest