Clinton in Congo: ActionAid calls for end to violence against women and girls in Congo

"We call on Secretary Clinton to lead the US response to end violence against women and girls particularly in the light of her involvement as a co-sponsor of the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) in the last session of Congress," said Bibiane Mbaye, ActionAid’s Policy Coordinator in West and Central Africa.

Over 600 civilians have been killed in the country, thousands of women and girls raped, dozens of villages burned to the ground and over 800,000 people displaced from their homes since the start of military operations in January.

"Women and girls have been bearing the brunt of this war for close to fifteen years. The culture of impunity in the face of gross violations against the rights of women and girls must end," said Mbaye.

It is estimated that close to 80,000 people were displaced from their homes in June alone and the exodus continues. In such situations, women and girls are at increased risk of violence and HIV/AIDS.

"We call on the US to fulfil their commitments to resource and implement a comprehensive approach to ending the violence," said Alpha Sankoh, ActionAid’s country programme manager in DRC.

"Ongoing fighting in the east of the country has put women and girls in a precarious position as increasingly many of them are raped when trying to escape and this must end," he added.

ARSON ATTACK KILLS TWO AT DARFUR CAMP, SAY UN-AFRICAN UNION PEACEKEEPERS

A group of armed men set fire to a makeshift camp in war-ravaged Darfur, killing two people and destroying hundreds of shelters, the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in the western region of Sudan (UNAMID) reported today.

Residents from the camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) near the West Darfur state capital El Geneina told a UNAMID military and police unit that they witnessed four men, two in uniform, enter the camp, start the fire and run out soon after midnight.

Strong winds swept the blaze through the Abu Zar camp, leaving one female IDP dead at the scene and killing a 22 year-old man after he was rushed to hospital. Another three IDPs remain seriously injured and are receiving medical treatment at El Geneina hospital.

Senior UNAMID military and police officials, speaking on behalf of the Mission, expressed their deep concern to the IDPs at Abu Zar following the incident.

The hybrid peacekeeping force noted that otherwise the security situation in the rest of Darfur remained relatively calm. UNAMID has reported a rise in attacks on peacekeeping staff, carjacking, other banditry, and harassment of civilians in Darfur in recent weeks.

There has also been concern over the safety of humanitarian workers, many of whom have been ordered to leave the region following the recent indictment of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.

UNAMID troops have conducted 19 confidence-building patrols, 11 escort patrols and one night patrol covering 21 villages and IDP camps within two of Darfur's three states, and its police force conducted 75 patrols.

An estimated 300,000 people have died and another 3 million have been displaced in Darfur, where rebels have been fighting Government forces and allied Arab militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, since 2003.
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