The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the second largest country in Africa, covers an area of 2,345,000 square kilometers, making it a vast and diverse territory. Its official language is French, and its four national languages are Swahili, Lingala, Kikongo and Tshiluba. This vast land is bordered by nine countries: Angola, Rwanda, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Zambia, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Congo Brazzaville. The DRC is crossed by the Congo River, the eighth longest in the world at 4,700 kilometers, which is a crucial waterway and a rich ecosystem. Congo is a country rich in natural resources and unique biodiversity. Its tropical forests, the second largest in the world after Amazonia, are an essential lung for the global climate balance. Its abundant rivers and lakes make it one of the largest freshwater reserves on the planet.

For several decades, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been the scene of endemic violence, fuelled by armed groups (FDLR, ADF, M23, AFC, Maï-Maï, etc.) and outside interests. These conflicts, often invisible on the international scene, have their roots in struggles for control of the country’s mineral resources, such as coltan, cobalt and gold, which are indispensable to modern technology. Coltan, used in the manufacture of cell phones and computers, is extracted from mines often controlled by armed groups who finance their violent actions with profits from the sale of these minerals on the world market. This trade in resources, sometimes referred to as the “blood trade”, destroys lives and entire communities.

As of March 2024, according to Charles Onana, a Cameroonian political scientist, journalist and essayist, author of ‘L’holocauste au Congo. L’omerta de la Communauté internationale’, ten million Congolese have perished in the conflicts that have ravaged the country for the past three decades. Women’s bodies, as in so many conflicts, have become a battlefield. Sexual violence is a weapon of war used to terrorize and dehumanize communities. 500,000 women and girls have been raped in the country, where armed groups reign supreme. At the same time, communities are being forced off their land. Millions of Congolese are internally displaced, fleeing massacres, rape and the destruction of their villages. The number of internally displaced people in the country has reached 6.9 million, making the DRC one of the countries most affected by forced displacement in the world.

Added to this violence are humanitarian crises; millions of Congolese suffer from hunger. The World Food Program states: “A total 25.6 million people are experiencing Crisis and Emergency levels of food insecurity, and an estimated 4.5 million children are acutely malnourished.” Basic infrastructure is lacking in many parts of the country, and access to education and healthcare is almost non-existent. The country, which should be one of the most prosperous on the African continent thanks to its natural resources, is trapped in a cycle of violence, poverty and corruption.

China and Russia are playing an increasingly important role in the DRC, a fact not welcomed by the United States. The DRC has become a battleground for geopolitical rivalry, in a kind of new “Cold War” between East and West. The Russian government approved a draft military cooperation agreement with the DRC, with initiatives such as sending military specialists to maintain the military equipment already supplied. In addition, the Wagner group has been reported supporting Congolese forces, adding a worrying dimension to the conflict. DRC’s neighbouring countries like Burundi and regional partners like South Africa have sent troops to combat rebel groups. Also, since the beginning of 2024, the Rwandan army has intervened alongside the M23 armed group. Countries like Poland have arms deals with Rwanda despite allegations of its support for this rebel group. Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps and other densely populated areas near Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been indiscriminately bombed, according to Human Rights Watch.

Other foreign countries, like Canada, have been complicit in the misery of the DRC, facilitating the activities of mining companies that exploit the Congolese people and steal their resources.

On June 27, 2025, a peace agreement was signed in Washington between the DRC and Rwanda, under the aegis of the United States. Presented as a major diplomatic breakthrough in favor of a return to peace in the DRC, this agreement raises both hope and many questions. While it marks an important step toward ending hostilities, the conditions surrounding its signing raise concerns about the genuine willingness to break with the logic of exploitation and interference that has fueled decades of conflict in eastern Congo. In this context, the #StandWithCongo campaign remains more mobilized than ever to call for genuine peace based on justice, people’s sovereignty, and an end to the plundering of natural resources.