Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Cardiogram by tablet, Cows by phone: 3 new innovations for Africa

From tablets that diagnose cardiovascular disease to potatoes that reduce childhood blindness, The Guardian’s list of 15 innovations that are helping transform Africa has a little something for everybody.

NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof faces criticism that his coverage of war, poverty and violence is detrimental for Africa. Photo:Henry McInnes/Sunday Mail for Mercy Corps

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Twitter debate questions media’s impact on Africa’s prosperity

The Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic is a plan to deliver medical services by water to reach populations that would otherwise be restricted by their landscape. Photo courtesy LTFHC.

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Floating clinics, rolling medics: In Africa, the hospital goes to you

For those who live in some of the most challenging landscapes in rural Africa, two innovative models are expanding the distribution of health care to ensure consistent aid—a boat and a truck.

A new mapping tool ties climate change to humanitarian issues including conflict and displacement in countries like Somalia. Photo: <a href="http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/displacement">Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps</a>

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Maps to the rescue: New tool shows climate-driven clashes across Africa

The U.S. military is targeting an unorthodox foe in the battle for political stability in Africa: climate change.

For too many dads, hitting the village bar takes precedence over their child's education. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/athiel/4546794330/in/photostream/"> Photo: andré thiel (flickr)</a>

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For Too Many Dads, the Money is Going Down the Drain

One source of poverty often overlooked is the manner in which the poor choose to spend their money. Many, particularly men, divert limited funds to buy beer, prostitutes, tobacco and other nonessential items, rather then invest in the education of their children.

Electronic companies say it is impossible to trace the source of minerals used in products. But, a dealer in Eastern Congo shows minerals from a rebel-held mine and non-conflict minerals. Photo: <a href="http://bit.ly/fT4Jzk">Grassroots Group (flickr)</a>

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The High Price of Complex Global Supply Chains

To cut costs, some U.S. companies source and assemble materials overseas, which can make it hard to track a complex global supply chain. It also means that a product designed by a U.S. company but manufactured in China could be considered a Chinese export.

A government deeply in debt is limited in it ability to implement public programs that would benefit the young and old by providing services such as education and health care. Photo: Matthew DeGalan/Mercy Corps

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Debt Cancellation: A New Era for the DRC?

Recently, international creditors forgave almost $20 billion in foreign debt amassed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The debt was mostly ac

Everyday life on the Congo. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/julien_harneis/1873760858/">Julien Harneis (Flickr)</a>

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The Congo's 'River of Life'

The River has seen everything: poverty, political chaos, violence. It has been mythicized in great stories of expeditions (see Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness) and exploited by outsiders.

China's attitude towards Africa was apparent in a slogan at a summit on Africa in Beijing. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenrwalli/295101176/">stephenrwalli (flickr)</a>

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China May Succeed Where the West Failed -- In Africa

Deborah Brautigan doesn't argue with critics who call China's interest in Africa self-serving. But she may be one of the first American academics to declare that China's deeds will be good for Africa, too.

Kamwi Alphonse, 65, lives in the Bulengo displacement camp and makes charcoal primarily for his family, but occasionally sells it as well. He sells a plastic bag for 600 Francs — about a dollar. Photo: Miguel Samper for Mercy Corps

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Congo's "Conflict Charcoal"

This has been reposted from the Mercy Corps blog.

Men working in a wolframite and casserite mine in Kailo, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/julien_harneis/1872000955/">Julien Harneis</a> (flickr)

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Breaking the resource curse

Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea all make billions CHECK of dollars from the resources under their soils.

A young girl walking on the outskirts of Kibera, the largest slum in Africa. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lo_/402495067/in/photostream">subcomandanta (flickr)</a>

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Is Foreign Aid Helping Or Hurting Africa?

More than $50 billion of foreign aid is given to African countries every year to address poverty on the continent.

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The situation for the Batwa pygmies in Central Africa, stranded and forced from their homes.

The guardian weekly recently published an article interviewing the pygmy chief Jean Pierre Canetto about the continuous mistreatment of his people, the Batwa pygmies in Congo.

A Congolese woman recovers at a hospital in Goma, DRC. Photo: <a href=" http://www.flickr.com/photos/endrevestvik/2373350227/">Endre Vestvik (flickr)</a>

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Addressing Rape in the Congo

Congo has the world's biggest deposits of gold, copper, diamonds, and tin. Its dramatic mountain landscapes once inspired Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn’s romantic saga in The African Queen.

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