Throughout history, men of all ages, nationalities and ethnicities have traveled far and wide in search of the most lucrative item to possess. Time and time again, these men have found themselves wandering into the famed Heart of Darkness, the Democratic Republic of the Congo-a land of natural beauty and terrible suffering. The Congolese sit atop a cache of great mineral wealth. African Business Magazine estimates that the Congo has $24 trillion of untapped mineral wealth in the ground. Ever since the Europeans were able to survive Congo's harsh jungles, there has never been a time when the Congolese weren't being exploited. This is the reality of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and its reality links directly to our own world.

Our society belongs to the innovators, those who pursue change despite all odds, those who alter the universal perception of reality. Time and time again, these brilliant men and women have given amazing gifts, from the printing press to the typewriter to the personal computer. However, as the years have progressed, an unspeakable atrocity has been concealed along with the release of each new gadget. 

What many of us aren't aware of is that these electronics that we all know and love are funding what the Enough Project calls "the deadliest conflict since World War II." Our hands are not bloodied by the wielding of a gun, but by our consumerism. 

Since the conflict began in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1996, the International Rescue Committee estimates the death toll in the Congo at 5.4 million due to war-related causes. Today, brutal militia groups fight to remain in control of the Congo's lucrative mineral wealth. In a seemingly anarchic state, there is no clear distinction as to where the government's power ends and the militias' begins. There are four conflict minerals that come from the Eastern Congo that find their way into all of our electronics: tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold. According to the Enough Project, militias control these mines in order to have power over the local population. Rape is used as their worse weapon of war. This in turn makes the Congo "the worst place to be a woman in the world," according to the Enough Project. 

After learning about our direct connection to this conflict, we may begin to believe that technology is the enemy. This simply is not true. One of the greatest aspects of our modern electronics is their ability to spread awareness about great causes, leading to a social impetus for change. If we didn't live in such a hyper-globalized world, hardly any of us would be aware of the conflict in the DRC. Nonprofit organizations such as Raise Hope for Congo have made it easy to voice your opinion through sending a quick email to your representatives or your favorite tech companies. Other organizations ask their followers to show their support in very public ways like Falling Whistles, which encourages you to wear a whistle as a conversation piece to teach others about the atrocities occurring in Congo. 

In the last several years, there has been a vital shift in the way we view advocacy for peace in the Congo. 

Organizations such as the Enough Project and Raise Hope for Congo helped to start the movement to understand the role of the electronics industry in the trade of these minerals. This was furthered by the passage of Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. According to the Enough Project, this bill requires electronics manufacturers to report on whether or not their products contain conflict minerals. If their products do, then companies must take the proper measures to track their minerals.
Today, the Congo has received remarkable media coverage based largely on consumer action. Universities all around the world like Brandeis University, the University of California, Berkeley, Emory University, St. Andrews University and the University of Ghana, have become part of Raise Hope for Congo's Conflict-Free Campus Initiative-an organization that encourages university officials to push electronic companies to invest responsibly in Congo's mining sector. According to Brian Krzanich, the CEO of the Intel Corporation, his company released the first conflict-free microprocessor this month, leading the industry in a positive direction. In fact, Raise Hope for Congo considers Intel Corporation and Hewlett-Packard as "Industry Leaders" in the effort to produce conflict-free minerals from the DRC. 

Great progress has been made on the ground as well. This past November, Falling Whistles updated their campaign titled "Stop M23" to "We Stopped M23." A United Nations-backed Congolese army defeated the March 23 Movement, a rebel group that has haunted the DRC for many years. According to Raise Hope for Congo, M23 was responsible for the displacement of 800,000 civilians, the rape of hundreds of women, the abduction of children and the execution of civilians. 

Additionally, M23 played a pivotal role in the conflict gold trade in eastern Congo, according to a report by the Enough Project. Hopefully, this political action will have a ripple effect in ending the presence of militias in Congo. Even though the M23 has been disbanded and a peace treaty has been signed, there remains the threat of resurgence according to the head of UN peacekeeping operation in Congo. Perhaps it would be in the best interests of international justice for the lead commanders of M23 to be held accountable for their actions in the International Criminal Court. 

The exploitation the Congolese people have faced is unimaginable. That has been the history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Now, it is our opportunity to change the social reality. We should thank Intel for their commitment to the conflict-free movement and encourage all others to follow suit. We should support jewelry retailers in investigating their gold mines. We can achieve peace by changing our leaders' attitudes toward the cause of human rights in Congo and ultimately the world over. Eliminating the conflict caused by Congo's mineral wealth is one of the fundamental steps in changing the lives of the Congolese people. Then comes the development of a beautiful country.
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