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The Amani Festival gives center stage to Congolese entrepreneurs

Posted on Feb 23, 2018

The Amani Peace Festival began in 2013 when the notorious rebel group, M23, occupied the city of Goma in eastern Congo. Now in its fifth year, the festival is inspiring proof of Congolese resiliency. It’s also just a lot of fun.  A day of music and art, the Amani Festival attracts people from across Goma’s multi-ethnic […]

ECI and partners bring new hope to survivors of landmine-related violence in eastern Congo

Posted on Feb 02, 2018

(Photos by Gerry Kahashy, ECI) In the Lake Kivu/Virunga National Park region of eastern Congo, landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) are a constant danger to coffee workers and their families. Indiscriminate as to their victims, mines and ERW have killed thousands of Congolese civilians. Children, especially, have been affected, accounting for more than […]

New York Times Opinion: Ben Affleck reflects on his engagement in Congo

Posted on Dec 19, 2017

(This article was printed in the New York Times Opinion section on December 4th, 2017)  When I first visited eastern Congo in 2006, it was difficult to understand how anyone could be hopeful about the region’s future. The Congolese had just emerged from a decade of some of the worst violence the world had known […]

ECI’s Dane Erickson speaks to the Brookings Institute on DRC elections & prospects for peace

Posted on Sep 15, 2017

On April 10th, ECI’s Managing Director Dane Erickson spoke on a panel discussion at The Brookings Institution with Michael O’Hanlon on April 10, 2017.  The panel discussed current security, political, and economic challenges in DRC, and what potential future scenarios might look like. Below is an excerpt from Brookings on this important panel discussion. To listen to […]