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Maps can shape how we see conflict.
Burundian military officers arrive in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to tackle the rise of militias in the region.
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The RED-Tabara armed group operates out of the DRC’s volatile eastern region, which shares a porous 243km border with Burundi.
Banyamulenge women at a funeral in South Kivu, eastern DRC on 7 October 2020.
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Rwanda shapes conflict in the region by using the Congolese Tutsi to centre its claims of a continued threat of genocide.
US ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright (L), UN secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali (R) after a meeting with US President Clinton in 1994 to discuss the situation in Rwanda.
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Many believe that the international community could have acted earlier, to prevent the genocide before it started.
Commemorating the victims of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide at a memorial in Kigali.
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Rwanda is touted as one of the leading nations when it comes to strides toward gender equality. But the role of female ‘rescuers’ in the 1994 genocide is being downplayed.
A woman carrying a child looks at a wall in Kigali with names of the victims of the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
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The 1994 Rwanda genocide has left lasting scars. Children born of sexual violence and mothers have shown immense strength in overcoming their histories of violence.
Burundi president Evariste Ndayishimiye votes in 2020.
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Any state policy looking to increase women’s representation must take into account formal and informal political practices.
A soldier guards a camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in January 2023.
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Central to the DRC’s politics is a broken relationship between the seat of government in Kinshasa and underrepresented groups in the eastern region.
Paul Kagame at a commemoration of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda in April 2023.
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The circumstances, challenges and history of Rwanda are intertwined with Paul Kagame’s own life story.
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Kabuga’s release raises questions about the international community’s commitment to delivering justice for genocide victims.
Paul Rusesabagina receives the Medal of Freedom from US President George W Bush in 2005.
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Rusesabagina’s release portrays Rwanda’s president as a pragmatist – one willing to negotiate once a security threat is neutralised.
Banyamulenge community members at the funeral of one of their own in eastern DRC.
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The Banyamulenge have been viewed as strangers in their own country – the violence targeting them revolves around this misconception.
Paul Rusesabagina at the Supreme Court in Kigali, Rwanda, in February 2021.
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Rwanda has rebuffed international pressure to release Paul Rusesabagina, a man made famous by Hollywood.
Men hold up protest signs in front of the coffins of DRC refugees killed in August 2004 in Gatumba, Burundi.
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Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo is used to win a place in government, not to overthrow it. And it keeps working.
DRC President Félix Tshisekedi (left) and Rwanda President Paul Kagame in Kigali in 2021.
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Rwanda believes DRC continues to provide refuge for those behind the 1994 genocide.
A billboard highlights Rwanda’s 100-day commemoration of the 1994 genocide.
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In 2003, Rwanda adopted a policy of ethnic non-recognition. However, for 100 days in a year, it centres ethnicity in the country’s psyche.
Sorting newly picked coffee beans.
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The peasantry still provides almost all the resources of the party-state, yet most of the agrarian policy decisions are taken without consultation.
A soldier from the armed forces of the DRC on foot patrol in the village of Manzalaho near Beni.
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Violence in the DRC can be brought to an end if the geographical scope of the conflict is broadened to include all neighbouring countries.
A peacekeeper protects civilians who fled violent clashes between the army and the ex-rebels of the “M23” in eastern DRC in January 2022.
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Recent clashes put eastern Congo’s M23 into the headlines again, but many other security problems persist in the area as diplomats struggle to tackle the underlying causes.
An unaccompanied foreign minor does lessons provided by a volunteer in a park in Toulouse, France, October 2017.
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Governments and agencies should prepare second chance opportunities for formal education as emergency situations may last for several years and create a backlog of education.