Corey+-+ASID+-+SP13


 * Resumé **

Joseph Kabila
 * Name **

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
 * Country **


 * __Occupation:__ ** President and Chief of state


 * __Geography:__ ** The DRC is situated in the central portion of Africa between the African countries of Angola, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Zambia. The DRC’s longitude is 0.00 N, and its latitude is 25.00 E. Its geography varies with a large plateau area in the center of the country (Congo River basin), mountains along the eastern portion, and forests and grassland savanna comprising the north and south regions. The DRC has a tropical climate, with year-round warm temperatures in the lowlands and colder and wet climates in the mountain ranges.


 * __Population:__ ** The DRC’s population is around 73,599,190 Congolese with a 2.579% population growth per year as of 2012.


 * __Economy:__ ** The economy of the DRC is based upon agriculture, with 55% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) being made up of this. The economy has slowed down in its growth and has struggled a bit because of the post-war humanitarian crisis in the DRC, because the fighting and small conflicts are preventing agriculture and farming, especially because refugees would lose homes and lands when they ran away. The DRC’s economy is also somewhat built around mining the natural and important resources found in the country like diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, coltan, zinc, and tin and other precious metals used in the making of electronic devices.


 * __Social Structure:__ ** The social structure of the DRC varies greatly because over 200 different ethnic groups reside in the Congo today, and there are over 5 different religions found there. 45% of the Congolese are the Bantu people (Mongo, Luba, Kongo, and Mangbetu-Azande). The religions that the Congolese follow are Roman Catholic, Protestant, Kimbanguist, Muslim, and others (includes syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs).

I am the son of former DRC president, Laurent-Désiré Kabila. I was a commander in the First Congo War, and later, became a Major-General. I was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Land Forces as well. Afterwards, in 2001, following my father’s assassination, I became president but wasn’t officially elected into office until 2006. I helped negotiate peace talks and a treaty with Rwandan and Ugandan rebel forces and was successful in helping end the Second Congo War.
 * Background Information **

The United Nations (UN), The Human Rights Watch (HRW), and International Rescue Committee (IRC) would agree with me on my ideas, because like their goals, mine, as president, was to end the fighting and unrest in the country and to restore and maintain national peace and order here between the Congolese. The UN, HRW, and IRC all focus on helping those in need and seeing that countries worldwide are developing and protecting its people (rights) as a government. The UN has already showed its support by placing around 18,500 peacekeepers in the eastern regions of the DRC so as to protect the Congolese and prevent fighting and bloodshed. The International Rescue Committee’s job, as an organization, is to help those people who are refugees and are displaced due to persisting war and fighting. Their mission is similar to mine in trying to create a safer nation and allow the thousands of refugees to return to their homes and lives. The Human Rights Watch also has a single goal that they work toward achieving, but they make sure that all citizens of countries are receiving the same fair and equal treatment and rights that all humans should have. As well with this reference group, I want to provide women in the country with equal opportunity and human rights which have been denied to them for so long, thus making our country more coalesce.
 * Global References **

I, Joseph Kabila, am working hard toward achieving all four of these benchmarks set by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. I have and continue to fight for the prosperity and safety of all my people and the country as a whole, as well as its continued growth in trying to rebound from these after effects of the war that continue to devastate the country.
 * Benchmarks **


 * 1. Safety and Rule of Law **


 * __National Security & Safety:__ ** The Democratic Republic of the Congo is facing unrest and tension within our borders as a result of surviving rebel forces who continue to want and fight for the demise of the government. I have sent my armed forces to counter these rebel militias and have been successful in stopping their plans to overthrow our country’s power. As well, along with the United Nations, we have placed over 18,500 peacekeepers throughout the eastern provinces of the DRC, where most of the fighting is concentrated, to keep control and prevent hostilities from arising.


 * 2. Participation and Human Rights **


 * __Gender:__ ** The UN and I are working hard to help establish a better status for women in today’s Congolese society. The women here are being treated worse than poorly, by being raped, kidnapped, used as sex slaves, and being stolen from, most of which was committed by the rebel militias when they raided and attacked villages in the eastern regions of the DRC. The United Nations is trying to help these Congolese women have a better and more important role in the society because they said in 2006 that nothing was really being done to help give women rights and equality and that these women were being treated with “unimagined brutality”. I plan to provide these women with the same equality and rights that all Congolese males receive in this nation, so that all my people can feel safe, welcome, and equal to one another. Specifically, I will provide them with jobs that suit their capabilities and roles in society which are of importance, therefore making our nation more united.


 * 3. Sustainable Economic Opportunity **


 * __Rural Sector:__ ** The economy, which is largely based on agriculture, has been declining as a direct result of the Congo Wars and the effects that have followed them ever since. Coffee, tea, cocoa, palm oil, cotton, and sugar are the crops most commonly farmed and raised in the DRC and exported to other countries. However, much of these have declined in exportation numbers because of the continuous fighting, since it’s difficult for the Congolese to farm when they are being driven from their homes and/or their villages are being burned and destroyed. The government, as of 2011, has established a plan to talk and work with coffee farmers in the DRC and help them increase their overall production, especially with its research, production, and manufacturing, to help the economy grow again. The minerals and resources, like diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, coltan, zinc, and tin, some of which are used in the making of electronics, have become of interest to many people, mainly the rebel militias. The fighting can also partially be caused by the rebels’ insatiable need for these resources with which they could sell and export to other countries who would be willing to buy them. As a result, these militias are using the Congolese people as slaves to mine these minerals and resources so that they can sell them and buy new weapons and other things that can help continue the fighting. As of February 28, 2012, the DRC’s government enacted a “law” that forced mines to present documentation saying that they weren’t near a conflict area (weren’t controlled and overseen by rebel militias), and if they were cleared, they could export their goods to different nations. These plans have and are still being enforced in the country and are helping build up our economy through good mining and agriculture.


 * 4. Human Development **


 * __Health:__ ** Through this Humanitarian Crisis and all the post-war fighting, thousands of Congolese have been displaced from their homes and forced to live in refugee camps with poor living conditions. The quality of the refugee camps is so poor, and supplies, such as food, water, and medication, can’t be given to the refugees due to the unrest in the regions where the fighting is centered. This is causing hundreds and thousands of Congolese deaths, whether by disease, starvation, dehydration, or some other cause. More than 90% of the Congolese refugees who died, did so because of things that could have been avoided, such as malaria, malnutrition, or other diseases. The child mortality rate in the DRC is high because of these refugee camps where it’s to the point that over 20% of children will die before their 5th birthday and 1 out every 10 will die before they turn 1 year old. This is one of the most important and devastating issues that is associated with the country’s Humanitarian Crisis because it is taking so many lives and also because little can and is being done to resolve it. Other organizations, especially the IRC, and I are doing as much as we can to help these refugees by ourselves, since little to no money is being donated by other countries to relieve the suffering, but we are struggling because there are so many who are displaced and dying, and this is where the $5 million would play a huge and beneficial role in fixing our crisis.


 * Argument**

This Humanitarian Crisis has both a political and social relationship and is jeopardizing our national security, the rights and equality of women, the rural sector, and the health of all the Congolese people. Ethnic groups are attacking and fighting one another for power and resources, and our government is forced to send thousands of soldiers to intervene, putting many more lives at risk. Women and children are being raped, civilians are being stolen from and kidnapped to be used as slaves, villages and homes are burned and destroyed, and thousands are displaced still today. This fighting hurts our economic development, especially agriculture, which suffers when farmers flee from their land, and mining, because the mines are mostly being controlled by the rebel militias to search for blood diamonds and other minerals. These refugees and miners are being forced into poor living conditions and are dying from different, preventable, causes. Our country needs this $5 million because we are fighting this problem internally and individually. We have little to no help from any outside nations or groups, but rather are being forced to handle this alone. This money would go a long way in helping jumpstart our economy with better mining and agriculture, providing women with the same equality and human rights as men, stopping the rebel militias, providing refugees with essentials (food, water, and medicine), helping reconstruct villages that were destroyed so that some of the displaced and homeless can return to their lives, and overall make our country safer for all the Congolese.

Works Cited "Central Intelligence Agency." // CIA //. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. [|__https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cg.html__]

"Congo, Democratic Republic of the (DROC)." // Global Issues in Context Online Collection //. Detroit: Gale, 2013. // Global Issues In Context //. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. [|__http://find.galegroup.com/gic/infomark.do?__] [|__&source=gale&idigest=c01ac7e3c010a42f363bebdc7326f5c6&prodId=GIC&userGroupName=pl7053&tabID=&docId=CP3208530037&type=retrieve&contentSet=GREF&version=1.0__]

"Congo: Postwar Humanitarian Crisis." // Global Issues in Context Online Collection //. Detroit: Gale, 2013. // Global Issues In Context //. Web. 26 Feb. 2013. [|__http://find.galegroup.com/gic/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=c01ac7e3c010a42f363bebdc7326f5c6&prodId=GIC&userGroupName=pl7053&tabID=&docId=CP3208520128&type=retrieve&contentSet=GREF&version=1.0__]

"Democratic Republic of the Congo." // Wikipedia //. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. [|__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo#Civil_wars__]

"Joseph Kabila." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. [|__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kabila__]

"A peace deal, of sorts; A peace deal for eastern Congo; Hopes for peace in the east of Congo." // Global Agenda // 25 Jan. 2008. // Global Issues In Context //. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. [|__http://find.galegroup.com/gic/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=c01ac7e3c010a42f363bebdc7326f5c6&prodId=GIC&userGroupName=pl7053&tabID=T006&docId=A173946796&type=retrieve&contentSet=IAC-Documents&version=1.0__]

Ridout, Anna. "Peacekeeping forces fail to protect congolese." // New Internationalist // June 2011: 12+. // Global Issues In Context //. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. [|__http://find.galegroup.com/gic/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=c01ac7e3c010a42f363bebdc7326f5c6&prodId=GIC&userGroupName=pl7053&tabID=T003&docId=A259621553&type=retrieve&contentSet=IAC-Documents&version=1.0__]

"Second Congo War." // Wikipedia //. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Feb. 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2013. [|__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Congo_War__]