The omnipresent Eve Ensler of Vagina Monologues fame wrote a list of "10 things you can do about the war in Congo" in The Nation, which roughly summarized goes like this:
1. Educate yourself about Congo's history2. Support a women's movement in the DRC and around the world
3. Demand a tenfold increase in UN peacekeepers
4. Demand that women be involved in any future peace talks
5. Demand the arrest and prosecution of war criminals involved in sexual violence, child soldiering, etc.
6. Demand that Obama's administration pressure Rwanda & Congo leaders to stop supporting Nkunda and the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda)
7. Pressure the DRC government to make ending sexual violence a priority
8. Help provide resources to raped and violated women
9. Write to your local editorial boards and ask them to cover the Congo war. Blog about the Congo war.
10. Attend the Turning Pain to Power Tour
The list should clearly have been called "10 things you can do about sexual violence in the Congo", since that's what Ensler is focusing on. She seems to not realize, like so many other feminist activists, that ending sexual violence in the Congo is not going to end the war in the Congo but more the other way round. I'm all for ending sexual violence in the Congo, but what about the more general war happening there? That's why I find point #6 actually the most useful on the list - as useful as demanding things from elected officials by writing to them.
Personally, the items that I like the most on the list are #1 and #9: educate yourself and educate others. I think it was Plato who said that in order to try to change the world first you have to attempt to understand it. The conflict in Eastern Congo is a very complex one, and to draw attention to the "rape epidemic" alone and in its most sensationalist aspects is an oversimplification. Amidst the generalized ignorance about Africa in most of the rest of the world, reading and writing about to understand the roots of what's happening is a very good way to start helping the Congo.
