The Congo Chronicle March, 2014 | Page 12

The lack of one big, central issue leaves the Democratic Republic of the Congo out of the public’s eye, but with the death toll nearing that of the holocaust (Telegraph, 2005) (Sociology in Focus, 2012), it’s time the world paid attention. The DRC, in a nutshell, is over populated and under funded. Their biggest natural resource is an abundance of minerals under ground, which could collectively be worth more than $24 trillion dollars, more than the GDP of the U.S. and Europe combined. It’s sad to see a mineral-rich country with beautiful jungles in the heart of Africa struggle so much, but one of the biggest problems in the Congo, conflict minerals.

A COMPLICATED CONFLICT

BY ETHAN McCARTHY