By: Chris Michael, Posted: May 18 09

Regions: Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Issues: Armed conflict, Child soldiers, Corporations and human rights, Crimes against humanity, Forced disappearances, Internally displaced persons, Mass killings, Rape and sexual abuse, Refugees, Violence against women, Women's rights

Tags: Coltan, contest, gold, minerals, mining, mobile phones, natural resources, tin

Your mobile phone, digital camera and other technology you may have (including the computer that you're reading this post on) is helping to fuel the ongoing crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), scene of the deadliest conflict since World War II.  More than 5 million people have been killed and millions more have been displaced in the DRC since August 1998 - last year alone, 400,000 people lost their homes. Fortunately, there is something you can do about it.

To raise awareness about how the insatiable demand for electronics products such as cell phones and laptops is helping drive the crisis and inspire action, the ENOUGH Project has partnered with YouTube Video for Change, a program that connects nonprofits with YouTube visitors to spark meaningful change. "Come Clean 4 Congo" contest calls on citizens to submit short videos that illuminate the link between their cellphone and the conflict in the DRC.  The video introducing the contest below, will be featured on YouTube's homepage for a week, along with other DRC-related videos. 

Video contest:  Use your cell phone to call on electronics companies to COME CLEAN 4 CONGO by designing a video (one minute or less) that raises awareness about the link between cell phones and the violence in Congo. Celebrity judges, Oscar-nominated actor Ryan Gosling, actress Sonya Walger from "Lost," and Oscar-nominated director Wim Wenders, will determine the winning video. The winner will be flown to LA for a celebrity-studded event and have their video featured on the ENOUGH Project's website and YouTube's contest page. 

To support the project, WITNESS has partnered with the Enough Project and provided footage from its partnership with AJEDI-Ka, an innovative DRC-based NGO that identifies, demobilizes and reintegrates child soldiers, as well as advocating for justice in the Eastern DRC. The widespread recruitment and use of child soldiers in the DRC is without parallel in Africa. Tens of thousands of child soldiers have been recruited as combatants by all parties to the conflict, which has been described as Africa's world war.  In 2003, AJEDI-Ka partnered with WITNESS to harness the power of video, and completed two videos to help amplify its advocacy work: On the Frontlines and A Duty to Protect. Please visit the links to learn more about the issue, watch the videos and learn how they were used to create change.

The ENOUGH Project's Campaign & What You Can Do

ENOUGH Project's campaign works to highlight how the multi-million dollar trade in minerals found in the DRC that go into our electronics directly furthers the conflict. Moreover, the ENOUGH Project spotlights how rape is a weapon in the crisis, making the Eastern DRC the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman or girl; hundreds of thousands of women have been raped in Eastern DRC over the past decade - 1,100 rapes reported each month. 

According to the ENOUGH Project, the sexual violence is often fueled by militias warring over conflict minerals, the ores that produce tin, tungsten, and tantalum—the 3 Ts— that end up being used in our electronic devices. The armed groups that are perpetuating the violence generate an estimated $144 million each year by extracting and selling four main minerals, the 3 Ts and gold:

-> Tin – used inside your cell phone and all electronic products as a solder on circuit boards. 53% of tin worldwide is used as a solder, the vast majority of which goes into electronics. Armed groups earn approximately $85 million per year from trading tin.
-> Tantalum (often called “coltan”) – used to store electricity in capacitors in iPods, digital cameras, and cell phones. 65-80% of the world’s tantalum is used in electronic products. Armed groups earn an estimated $8 million per year from trading tantalum.
-> Tungsten – used to make your cell phone or Blackberry vibrate. Tungsten is a growing source of income for armed groups in the DRC, with armed groups currently earning approximately $2 million annually.
-> Gold – used mainly in jewelry, gold is also a component in electronics. Extremely valuable and easy to smuggle, armed groups are earning between $44-88 million per year from gold.  

Additional Resources & SIGN THE PLEDGE

ENOUGH Project's website, full of in-depth resources and ways you can take action

Video contest rules and steps to get started