Condition Critical: Voices from the war in eastern Congo

international | anti-war / imperialism | press release Thursday November 20, 2008 13:51 by Niamh Nic Carthaigh - Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) niamh.niccarthaigh at dublin dot msf dot org 9-11 Upper Baggott Street, Dublin 2 00353863541124

MSF launches international multimedia campaign on conflict in Congo

Hundreds of thousands of people are on the run, fleeing a war that rages in eastern Congo, in the provinces of North and South Kivu. They are frightened. Many are sick or wounded. Others have been harassed or raped, or have had everything they own stolen. The people of the Kivus are in a critical condition. The destiny of everyone in this region is shaped by the war. The story of their struggle to survive needs to be told.

Today, November 20, humanitarian medical aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is launching an international multimedia campaign, entitled Condition: Critical – Voices from the war in eastern Congo.

MSF's Condition Critical campaign will tell the personal stories of people struggling to survive in a region that became the frontline of a conflict that has already raged for years and which sharply intensified at the end of August 2008.

While the current escalation in violence has recently brought the crisis in eastern Congo back into the media spotlight, all too often the people of North and South Kivu are left to survive with little help or attention from the international community.

One of the few humanitarian organisations still working in the most violent areas of eastern Congo, MSF is sounding the alarm for these people. The reality is that life in eastern Congo isn’t just hard, conditions there are critical. Homes and land have become battlefields. Children born during the crisis know nothing but war. Shelter, food and water are in short supply.

“The future, it means dying…dying because of the ongoing problems… I was born during the problems. Today I’m 18 years old. You see, it’s awful.” says Louis, MSF malaria patient, in the 11-minute video-feature that will launch the campaign today across the world and which people can view online at www.condition-critical.org

This new year-long multimedia campaign will highlight the dire situation in the North and South Kivu provinces by providing a human face to the suffering. Through regularly updated personal testimonies, photos, documentary, web-videos and the latest news updates from the frontline on www.condition-critical.org, the people of the Kivus will talk about their daily lives and share their struggle to survive.

MSF invited World Press Photo laureate Cédric Gerbehaye to the region and his powerful photographs form the basis of the central video feature on www.condition-critical.org. The Condition Critical website is available in English, French, Dutch, German, Spanish and Italian and on November 20, press launches will take place across the world in a number of major cities including Johannesburg, Paris, Nairobi, Brussels and London.

MSF is currently increasing its emergency response in eastern Congo to cope with the deteriorating humanitarian situation. It’s medical teams are working in Goma and other parts of North and South Kivu, including Rutshuru, Kibati, Kirotshe, Kiwanja, Buhimba, Masisi, Kitchanga, Mweso, Nyanzale, Kayna, Bukavu, Minova and Kalonge.

MSF remains extremely concerned about the people who are still on the move, continuously fleeing the ongoing fighting. Many of the displaced and local residents remain in urgent need of food, clean water, healthcare and basic items such as blankets, hygiene kits and shelter materials.

In addition, the recent fighting has led to an increase in the number of cholera patients, as cholera outbreaks have emerged in more and different locations than usual. Further outbreaks of cholera are a major risk, due to the constant movement of the population, the crowded conditions in displaced camps, lack of clean water and inadequate sanitation.

MSF has been working in North and South Kivu since 1981. MSF medical teams carry out emergency surgery, treat injuries including gunshot wounds and burns; run mobile clinics to reach those who have fled to safer, more remote areas; provide healthcare in hospitals and health centres; respond to epidemics, including cholera; provide medical care to victims of sexual violence; and provide psychological support for those traumatised by what they have experienced in the conflict.

MSF is an independent, humanitarian, medical aid agency committed to two objectives: providing medical aid wherever needed, regardless of race, religion, politics or sex and raising awareness of the plight of the people we help. For more information on the work of MSF, visit www.msf.ie

For more information on Condition Critical, or to arrange an interview with an Irish spokesperson who recently returned from the conflict area, or an MSF aid worker on the ground in eastern Congo, please contact Niamh Nic Cárthaigh at +353 85 1069 132

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