Democratic Republic of Congo
A vast country roughly the size of Western Europe with immense mineral wealth and natural resources, the DRC is emerging from more than a decade of devastating civil war in which almost four million people died and as many as half a million women and girls have been victims of extreme sexual violence carried out by armed groups.
At a time when the eyes of the world were diverted elsewhere, the Catholic Church was the only structure capable of assuring a humanitarian safety net for the victims of violence, providing psychological support, medical services and access to justice for rape victims. As a result, we have mainly been working in partnership with Congolese Church structures at parish, diocesan and national levels.
With our partners we have been implementing large scale humanitarian and resettlement programmes in the east of the country as well as longer term social development programmes in the area of psycho-social trauma healing and rebuilding livelihoods. In addition, we also fund specific programmes around peace building and reconciliation, promoting more accountable and responsive governance to reduce poverty, and advocacy around natural resources.
 | Congo: refugees flee fighting in North Kivu We have pledged £50,000 to support families made homeless by renewed fighting between government and rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo. |
![Rachel Widuhaye attends listening room sessions where women can talk about when they were raped [Pascale Palmer]](/var/storage/images/about-us/where-we-work/dr-congo/images/woman-with-sewing-machine/1248834-1-eng-GB/woman-with-sewing-machine_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg) | Congo: Anniversary marred by brutalisation of women The Democratic Republic of Congo celebrates 50 years of independence, but in the eastern region of the country one woman is being raped every 30 minutes |
 | Love truth: open up the books on mineral extraction On 13 February, CAFOD and other members of the Publish What You Pay coalition called on businesses to 'love truth' and to open up the books as part of a global day of action. |
 | Take action now: Open up the books! New laws are on the table to ensure companies open up their books - help close the legal loopholes so that poor communities can benefit from the wealth beneath their feet. Please take action today. |
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Make a radical difference to the lives of the poorest of the poor |
![Refugees gather at a makeshift camp near Kibati, 12 km north of the provincial capital of Goma, October 29, 2008 [REUTERS/Stringer, courtesy www.alertnet.org]](/var/storage/images/about-cafod/where-we-work/dr-congo/images/refugees-who-fled-fighting/934156-2-eng-GB/refugees-who-fled-fighting_0column75_nospace_landscape.jpg)
