26.03.05 Fishermen ply their age-old trade on Lake
Albert, despite the turmoil that has engulfed the Great Lakes Region in
recent years.
Summary:
This series covers the conflict in Eastern Congo and
the UN led effort to bring peace. The deadliest since WWII, it persists in
part because of the plundering of the Congo's immense mineral wealth by
militias and neighboring countries. Ethnic strife that has torn the Great
Lakes region apart is also a factor. A recent referendum on the constitution
and elections planned for 2006 offer hope for this Western-Europe sized
country that hosts the UN's most expensive and amibitious undertaking in the
world. In the war-ravaged eastern provinces of the D.R. Congo in the Great
Lakes Region of Africa, MONUC (the United Nations Peace Keeping Mission to
the Congo) has given militias until April 1st to turn in their weapons and
join the de-mobilization and re-integration program run by the UNDP (United
Nations Development Program). Although the program had been in effect for
months, there had been limited disarmament. Once the deadline had been set, a
flood of militiamen, including child soldiers, suddenly entered the program.
