Has the international community failed Congo?

Aid agencies working in the Democratic Republic of Congo have accused the international community of ignoring the country's horrendous humanitarian crisis.

Save the Children, Oxfam and Christian Aid say 16 million Congolese are going hungry, more than two million have been displaced by the war, and in some parts of the country, infant mortality is 40%.

The scale of the humanitarian crisis has only become apparent since the warring parties agreed to observe a ceasefire earlier this year, allowing aid workers to get to previously inaccessible parts of the country.

The aid agencies say that despite the scale of the crisis, the response from the international community has been totally inadequate.

Has the international community failed the people of DR Congo? What should be done to alleviate the crisis?

This Talking Point has now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

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It's tragic that everything having to do with Africa has to become a "crisis" before anyone even notices. What's worse is that it usually takes a few white people to suffer because of the "crisis" before any action is taken.
Jabriel, Earth

The problem will not be solved soon until all of us stand together in behaving like human beings

Eric Kabera, Kigali, Rwanda

Yes, Africa - Genocide, Starvation, Disease and so on and so on... It will never end until we all get our act together and act like real human beings, other than that, we are all evil. The genocide in Rwanda took place, the world stood by. The Interahamwe went into the Congo near the Rwandan border, the west stood by. The Interahamwe rearmed and attacked villages and survivors of the Genocide inside Rwanda, the west stood by. The Rwandan Hutus held hostage the Goma population before taking up the entire Congo crisis, while the west was pumping money into the camps to buy arms. Merchants of death... President Kagame warned the Congolese and the world at large that the actions in the former Zaire were intolerable, that his next step was to move in and sort his problem - that was the root cause of the on-going crisis on the African Continent.

No surprise that the world is standing by on the death and calamity of what is currently happening in the Congo. The problem is not yet solved, and will not be solved soon until all of us stand together in behaving like human beings even though human beings are really evil.
Eric Kabera, Kigali, Rwanda

Isn't it about time we asked ourselves the question what can DRC do for itself? It can for a start stop importing weapons to suppress and murder its own people, cooperate with neighbouring countries for economic gains, grant its people freedom of speech, encourage exiled Congolese to return to the country for development purposes etc. The list is long. Wake up, African leaders: you are making fools of yourselves in the west!!
Anthony, Oslo

I believe that the time has come for the West to get involved

Charles, London, UK

I believe that the time has come for the West to get involved. They have a moral obligation to the people of the countries involved in the conflict, and not just those directly affected - for example, the economic crisis in Zimbabwe. Whilst the war is not the sole reason Zimbabwe is facing complete collapse, it is a major contributor to its people's hardships. The USA has recognised that by passing the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 which, among other things, provides incentives for the end to the conflict in the DRC. People are dying in Mugabe's pursuit of personal gain and as a result of his pig-headedness. He is seen as something of a hero by some other African leaders. If the West don't do something about it, who will?
Charles, London, UK

The development of Africa must be left to Africans. No other nation or group of nations has the ability to change the attitudes and traditional hatreds of other people. A second reason the solution can only be found in Africa is economic. It has been pointed out that Africa is rich in natural resources and is being "exploited" by the "west". Simple economics tell us that resources bring in far less wealth than finished goods. Until African countries stop relying on the easy income provided by resources, there will be a few powerful African robber barons sprinkled amidst abject poverty. Industrial development is the only thing that will save Africa. Industry that produces finished goods will employ the poor, raise the standard of living, and improve the prospects for peace in Africa.
Paul, Rockford, USA

The West will not help African countries - they will, instead rush to help in Kosovo, Israel, Yugoslavia etc.

Kima, Harare, Zimbabwe

I will not comment on the historical woes of the Congo. I will however point out that I put the blame for the current problems squarely at the USA's door. They supported Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi in their invasion of the DRC and vilified the guys who did the right thing Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Three million people died in areas that are occupied by Rwanda Uganda and Burundi yet nothing is said. Secretary Powell says it was regrettable. Africans have to wake up and realise that unless they don't give value to the West they will not be helped. The help will only be rhetorical. From experience, the West will not help African countries - they will, instead rush to help in Kosovo, Israel, Yugoslavia etc. This is a truth from history. Africans, we might be down at the moment but lets keep our dignity, we know that one day we will thrive!
Kima, Harare, Zimbabwe

I don't think African countries are being given enough credit for trying to stabilise this region. With virtually no resources, Southern African countries have at least stabilised the DRC. At least now, there is a semblance of a political system and negotiations to reunite the country again. My advice is that the developed world concentrate on providing humanitarian aid and leave the politics for the regional leaders to sort out.
Garth, Harare

The West has its own interests. If these coincide with Africa's (DR Congo's), that would be a pleasant coincidence. Recall USA rejecting the Kyoto agreement? Because it was not in their "economic" interest! Not because it was fundamentally disagreeable! The West will continue to arm and publicly praise Uganda's Museveni and Rwanda's Kagame so long it serves the West's interests. While they kidnap and put on trial Milosevic for exactly the same actions they praise the other two for!
Simon, Germany

I find it outrageous that so many Brits and Americans so quickly place all of the Congo's problems at the Congolese feet. Africa is still and for the immediate future will remain an economic colony of the West. As long the West's profit margins are not jeopardised the West will continue to be reluctant to make real efforts to bring stability to Africa. I am an American of African descent. Every night our national news intensely concentrates on the horrors of the Serbian conflict as well as that of the Israeli's conflict with the Arabs. Yet, I am hard pressed to find any Americans who are aware of the magnitude of problems that exist in the Congo or any other nation in Africa.

As the United States threatens to boycott the UN meeting on racism, if the topic of slavery is to be discussed, it is time for western nations such as the UK, USA, and France to admit that when it is African blood that is being spilt, whether black or Arab, these nations are not very concerned at all. That is unless the investments of American corporations are at stake.
Diallo Sessoms, Oakland , USA

If you think that "...it is not Westerners who are killing people in the Congo.."; try an internet search on "mercenaries, Congo", The sad fact is that British-run mercenary groups are involved... Additionally, the developed world is in large part responsible for the easy availability of AK47s in that part of the world. It may well be African soldiers who are killing little children, but the international arms dealing community is making the process a whole lot more straightforward by selling guns to the psychopathic FNL, FDD etc.
Richard Wilson, London, UK

When did we ever try helping them...all we did was momentarily blind them with our help and aid then ask them for their diamonds, to buy our weapons which we gave outdated ones and so on. I agree what do we get if we help unify a stable Africa - if that was so I wouldn't have a diamond ring for my girl friend.
Sam Nielsen, UK

I am sick and tired of Africans always needing the international community to solve it's problems. The solution to all the problems lie in the hands of the Africans themselves. Stop waiting to be save and come up with your own solutions. (This is to whoever is in leadership position. If you cannot come up with solutions, then step aside and let others try).
Mpeti, Iowa City, U.S.A/DRC

Almost all crises in Africa are created by Africans themselves

Amos Songor, USA

I did read most of the comments made by previous writers, but what they fail to acknowledge, either knowingly or unknowingly, is the glaring fact that almost all crises in Africa are created by Africans themselves. As a matter of fact, I am an African and specifically hail from Liberia. Over the years I have known how we bear a greater responsibility for all the nightmare and agony that we suffer. That sounds like an irony but it is not, because the underprivileged are not the factor, but greedy politicians in Africa are. Should we then blame the West entirely for our self-created problems? Not really, but we ought to appreciate whatever they can offer even if that is done in an unfair manner.
Amos Songor, Wilmington, Delaware

Who are "the international community"? Politicians, bosses and bankers have failed Congo, and Africa generally. Most of the rest of us want and will try to help. After all, the same politicians, bosses and bankers have failed us too.
Ben Drake, York, UK

The West has nothing to gain from a stable unified Africa

Peter Robinson, Southport, England

The fact is that the West has nothing to gain from a stable unified Africa. As it is now the West benefits from arms sales, cheap oil, diamonds and minerals and a regular income from debt repayments. Third World countries are needed to buy expensive Western goods and to sell cheap raw materials. If we can make ourselves feel a bit better by having a few days of fund raising then we can forget about the problems for the rest of the year.
Peter Robinson, Southport, England

It is very hard to provide aid and humanitarian assistance to a country that is in the midst of civil war and whose warring factions don't allow international aid to flow in because they use mass starvation as a weapon of war.
Jeff, USA

As usual most westerners seem conveniently ignorant of the fact that most troubles in Africa can be traced back to colonialism and political intrigue by western governments to aid their own economic and political interests. Tribal conflict has largely been a result of colonial border divisions which placed rival tribal/ethnic groups into direct conflict where previously they would have kept themselves separate. Western governments have aided western economic interests by systematically collaborating with corrupt regimes and actively sabotaging democracy movements (e.g. the Belgian government's involvement in the Congo) whilst simultaneously exploiting the continent's vast resources.

There is a reason why a land so full of natural resources is so poor and the West which is relatively lacking in such resource is so rich. The West will not intervene in Congo (apart from the obligatory tokenism from the United Americans, sorry Nations) because like Rwanda, but unlike Sierra Leone, there is nothing for them to gain (keeping control of diamond mines in the case of Sierra Leone).
J, UK

Mr Wilson it is not Westerners who are killing people in the Congo its Africans it doesn't matter what has happened in the past this is a wrong that is being committed now! THEY are responsible for what their own actions not us, stop treating Africans like children - they know right and wrong just like us.
M P Marshall, UK

The continent of Africa is truly a mess

Yola Hurwitz, Victoria, Canada

The continent of Africa is truly a mess, of which the Congo is just one example. However, don't keep blaming the West. Blame the corrupt African governments who seem to have nothing better to do than line their pockets with the money from foreign aid, and to keep blaming others for their countries' problems.
Yola Hurwitz, Victoria, Canada

The people of DR Congo are partly to blame for the misery being experienced in that country now. But the West takes the largest part of the blame in the sense that they exchange 'blood' minerals and other valuable natural resources with guns! The DR Congo does not manufacture guns or other weapons but where do they come from?
Chibamba Douty, Zambian student in Brunei Darussalam

The entire point of ending colonialism was to make countries responsible for their own futures. It makes a nonsense of the whole idea of independence to say that the West is still responsible for civil wars that African countries inflict on themselves.
Jon Livesey, Sunyvale, CA, USA

Do African lives count less than Westerners?

James, UK

I was shocked when I heard, as the last, brief item on the news a few weeks ago that 3 million people had died in the Congo war. At first I thought the figure must have been a mistake. I looked at other news programmes and newspapers but I couldn't even find any further information. Maybe the 3 million figure is slightly exaggerated. But if that many Europeans or Americans were killed it would be headline news for decades. Why is there so little interest in the media? Do African lives count less than Westerners?
James, UK

In the nicest possible way, it's just naive to think that Europe has no case to answer with regard to the horrors going on in the Congo. One or two of your contributors to might do well to try an internet search on "Congo, Coltan, Barrick", or read "King Leopold's Ghost", and then decide whether they really think that "The West is not to blame for this one".
Richard Wilson, London, UK

No rationalisation of blame will help the injured, sick, starving children, women and men in the Congo. To suggest that the country is left alone to sort itself out is the worst form of humanitarian solution.
Robert Okello, London, UK

Let us get something straight here, Africans or the Congo will be better off without the International communities' involvement in their lives to fuel wars and support coups after coups. Western countries are to blame for everything that is going on in the African continent. They pretend to be angels but they are really devils. All those who think the Congo should be re-colonised are being ignorant.
Deni Lukunku, DRC (USA)

I have recently had the privilege of visiting towns and villages deep inside of Congo. I have seen the misery and I have seen the results of war, but I also have seen how much you can achieve with almost nothing. I am definitely in favour of continued aid to Congo! I also have seen the unmarked airplanes leaving Congo supposedly with diamonds and other valuables and returning to Congo supposedly with weapons. It is more than just abused relief money and bilateral aid that is financing the warfare! Ask their origin, next time you are glancing at sparkling diamonds.

You can talk about the war in Congo but you cannot neglect the interests of the neighbouring countries, whose soldiers are still present in Congo and whose politicians are justifying their presence. Solutions: Massive international pressure on countries with doubtful presence in Congo. Controlled diamond trade. Massive assistance to spark the democratic development in Congo - already planned, but still not implemented. Congo is a beautiful country of abundant wealth. Give its people a chance!
Michael Loua, Gilleleje, Denmark

Unless agencies can figure out a way to get aid to the common people, not the government officials, relief will always fail

John Paul M, Zaire/UK

I am from Africa and I understand all too well how corrupt and insidious is the Congo government. Unless agencies can figure out a way to get aid to the common people, not the government officials, relief will always fail. In other words, the aid goes striaght to the bank accounts of the government elite...while the rest of the population suffers.
John Paul M, Zaire/UK

The comments made on this forum are indicative of the kind of ignorance on African politics and economy which has infected policy making in the West. Africa pays out far more in debt service than it receives in aid and provides valuable commodities, particularly hydrocarbons, minerals and metals, which keep the world economy and Western businesses going.

Most Africans never see the results of this massive wealth generation. The Congo is a typical example of how the country's vast natural resources have been plundered by Western corporations, while its citizens have lived on the brink of starvation. The enforced underdevelopment of Congo has helped generate the sordid battle over gold, diamond and copper mines by armed profiteers. The West can do two things: stop trading in arms with Africa and redistribute the profits generated by African resources to the continent's poor.
Dan, UK

The pathetic and dangerous irony of this situation is shockingly evident. Disappointment, corruption, mismanagement and disease have managed to make the Congo (and practically the rest of sub-Saharan Africa ) ripe territory for a new brand of neo-colonialism.
Robert del Valle, Detroit USA

Africa has so many resources and yet all is spent on buying destructive weapons. Unless stability is restored all over Africa we shall see more and more of these appalling pictures of starving children. African Government should take all the blame and should be ashamed. We can't blame the West, they are trying their best but with no success.
Teshome H, Eritrea/Canada

We have a duty to help Africa

Robert Parker, UK

I feel we have a duty to help Africa since the countries are poor and we in the West, whilst not causing it, made the situation worse by allowing our banks to lend countries money to fight wars and huge interest rates. The problems also stem from the fact that as colonies we never bothered to educate the Africans and just used them to exploit them and use their natural resources. I feel the best way the West can deal with Congo is to stop weapons coming into the country and stop selling them these weapons ourselves.
Robert Parker, United Kingdom

A hundred years from now and Africa will be no different from today. It is hopelessly wracked with tribal and cultural rivalries, and rampant corruption. I'm not suggesting it, but other than re-colonising most of the continent, there's no hope. Aid? You may as well just wire it straight to the offshore bank accounts of the political and military leaders.
Neal, USA/UK

How was the West supposed to stop these wars short of re-colonising the Congo? The people there define themselves by their intolerance of their neighbours more than of foreigners.
T.J. Cassidy, U.S.A.

We have more than paid our dues to that unhappy continent

Michael Entill, UK

The international community, especially western countries, have done nothing substantial to help the Congolese people in the last 41 years. Anything they did in that country brought us nothing but misery i.e. the killing of Lumumba, supporting Mobutu, bringing Kabila Sr. to power and giving us the cold shoulder while they cowardly support Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi as these countries use our people for target practice and robbing us of our vital resources. If western countries were true partners of African people, the Congo would never be in the state it is now. The question should not be whether the "international community has done too little in the Congo?" instead it should be "What have the international community done in the Congo?" They give with one hand and take with the other. That's what they are doing.
Serge Tshamala, RDC (USA)

Every year western countries pour billions into Africa, to no avail. We have more than paid our dues to that unhappy continent; now it must be up to Africans to sort out their own problems. Decades of charity and aid have done nothing to change Africa's situation. So long as the West keeps on offering handouts, nothing there will ever change.
Michael Entill, UK

You ask - "What should be done to alleviate the crisis?" Surely the answer is to stop fighting wars within the country? The West are not to blame for this one.
M.P.Marshall, UK