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Democratic Republic of Congo

Economy: The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) uses the currency of Congolese Francs. Their main exports are diamonds, copper, coffee, cobalt, and crude oil. Their gross net income per capita was $160 in 2009 though that is a significant increase from $120 in 2004. Population: 67 million Social Structure: The DRC has a social class system where the wealthy and important minority known as the Kinois are at the top and the poor city-dwelling population are at the bottom. The DRC has a history of apartheid.

Leader: Joseph Kabila

Background information:

Joseph Kabila has been Congo's president since 2001, when the former president, his father was assassinated. He became the official president after an election in 2006. This was a very historic election and was viewed very positively by many international monitors.

Kabila is a former guerrilla fighter, with many years of experience. Joseph had his military training in China. He and his father fought to topple dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who had been plaguing the country (then known as Zaire because of Seko's renaming of it) for over two decades. Then in 2001 Joseph's father was killed by his own bodyguard and Kabila became the president. He is the world's youngest head of state and is well liked by his country.

References:

Barrack Obama - President of the United State of America Nicolas Sarkozy - President of France Jacob Zuma - President of South Africa

Benchmarks:

The DRC's Safety and Rule of Law is by no means anything to brag about, receiving a 33 in that category. This low score probably comes from that fact that the Democratic Republic of Congo is known to many as "the rape capital of the world". Rape is used as a tool of war in the DRC and as such is a hard thing to stop. Kabila wishes to heal the raw scars left by the many conflicts in Congo, rape probably being a prime example of these scares. Since these conflicts stem from hate between different groups, it is difficult for the government to fix this and Kabila is truly doing his best to try and help the people. One such example of the progress that has been made is an integrated system to HIV and tuberculosis health care. This program, known as IHC has shown great success in helping its patients. There is minor corruption in the DRC, none of which has been linked to Kabila. Most of these are war profiteering done by government officials, some of which are still Joseph Kabila's top advisors. The DRC scored rather high in National Security (as compared to its other Safety and Rule of Law scores). This stems from Kabila's past, as a guerrilla fighter. As a veteran of many wars he is well respected by his army and therefore commands a 7,000 strong army.

Participation and Human Rights is another category which brought the DRC a low score, a 30. The DRC scored a 31 in participation. This is because of the social classes that have become a part of normal Congolese life. The separation between the upper class, which is where all the politicians and government officials are, and the lowest class, where all the city-dwellers with low paying jobs are, is a rather extreme difference leading to the lower class feeling unable or uncomfortable with participating in the government processes. A great stride in reducing this problem was made during the election of Kabila in that there was even an election. Kabila was technically president even before the election, taking over the spot his father held, but instead of just holding on to the position as a dictatorship he had an election run. The rights of the public are being oppressed moderately. For example, the media has problems in expressing their beliefs. They face the risk of arrests, threats, or violence for discussing, especially if discussing corruption. As this stems from the problem of corruption, I don't believe it to be Kabila causing this, but the corrupt members of his staff instead. He could easily fix this by finding the corrupt members and setting them straight. Despite the fear the media must live in they have been able to criticise the government and there are many daily newspapers and TV and radio stations that function normally. Gender plays only a minor role in the problem and most of this stems for the frequent rape degrading women and causing many problems for the population.

Congo received its lowest score in Sustainable Economic Opportunity, scoring a 26. This is such a low score because of infrastructure and the private sector. The infrastructure received a score of 3 which is extremely low. This is due to many things including the conditions of the roads and the computer/internet usage. There is a total of 230,400 internet users in the entire country, which is approximately 1 internet user per 290 people. The conditions of the roads and transportation in general is sub-par to say the least. The private sector received a 16, another very low score. This is probably because of the low standard of living. Some people in the DRC are forced to work in mines, for low wages and in very poor conditions. The housing is also a problem (as seen in the picture) which requires some attention. The problem in the private sector is because of the differences in the social classes between the high class, wealth and the low class, poor. Kabila is making strives to improve the infrastructure of his country by implementing programs such as AMESD, a program which aims to bring tools for African countries to better be able to forecast the weather.

Human Development is where the Democratic Republic of Congo scored its highest with a 35. Although this is not a high score, it is an accomplishment compared to the other scores. They received a 34 in health and welfare which is probably because of widespread diseases such as HIV, AIDS, or Malaria. This is a problem almost all African nations face but as previously discussed, strives are being made to help those plagued by HIV and tuberculosis. Education in the DRC definitely needs improvements but its current state of disarray is caused by the conflicts that have been happening in the area. A war torn country is no safe environment to learn, but as Kabila works to end conflicts, the education system will naturally become more reliable and successful.

Works Cited:

BBC. "BBC News - Democratic Republic of Congo country profile." BBC News - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. ' .

"Congo: elections and the battle for mineral resources." Social Education 71.1 (2007): 24+. Student Resource Center - Gold. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.

"Culture of Democratic Republic of the Congo" Countries and Their Cultures. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. .

*Moore. Democratic Republic of Congo Street. N.d, Democratic Republic of Congo. Life 17 July 2006: n. pag. Print.

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