Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights organisations and activists have expressed concerns over the the Sexual Practices Against Nature Bill presented before the national parliament of the Democratic Republic of aiming to criminalise homosexuality and zoophilia as sexual practices against nature. Jean Bedel Kaniki, President of Groupe Hirondelles Bukavu, an LGBTI organisation in the DRC confirmed that on the 22 October 'the bill was judged admissible by the majority of the parliament and was sent to the socio-cultural committee that will discuss its permissibility in terms of the provisions and principles of the constitution before its promulgation'.

Francoise Mukuku works as the national coordinator of a young feminist group called Si Jeunesse Savait, based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Here she describes how the organisation teaches women how to blog, broadcast radio shows, take pictures and document their lives.

The UN's release of a long awaited report on crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1993-2003 is not only an opportunity to re-examine the historical record of mass violence in DRC - the scale and nature of which was often overlooked in the wake of the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda - but is also a chance to correct the terms of the deceptive and fragile peace some leaders wish to proclaim in the resource-rich Great Lakes region of Africa, writes Fabienne Hara, the vice president for multicultural affairs at the International Crisis Group.

Many of Congo's rape survivors took to the streets Sunday to speak out against sexual violence in a country where it has become a weapon of war. Sunday's march was organised by the World March of Women in association with local women's groups. Organisers hoped the march would combat the stigma attached to rape victims and draw international attention to the problem of rape as a war tactic. (This post contains a video)

Amid accusations that most UN peacekeepers turned a blind eye to the recent 'mass rape' of more than 300 civilians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon admitted that the mounting problems in the sprawling, crisis-stricken country are virtually beyond the capacity of the world body. 'We must be realistic,' Ban told reporters Wednesday, 'Bluntly put, the sheer geography is too large, the number of peacekeepers too small, our resources too limited.'

The UN has reportedly toned down a document detailing 10 years of gruesome attacks by Rwandan and Ugandan troops against civilians in the Democractic Republic of Congo (DRC) after both countries angrily protested a draft version describing the slaughter of tens of thousands of ethnic Hutus during the 1990s. But according to the Associated Press, the report continues to suggest that Rwandan troops and others may have engaged in genocide and crimes against humanity.

A Million Women Rise delegation of British women is to attend the Third International Action of the World March of Women in Bukavu (province of South Kivu) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of a global action to campaign for an end to violence against women. The global action, from 14 - 17 October 2010, involves women from 48 countries travelling to the DRC to express concrete solidarity with Congolese women and all women struggling against poverty and violence.

Margot Wallstrom, the United Nation's special representative on sexual violence and conflict, and Zainab Salbi, the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, an organisation that aids women in conflict zones, were recently interviewed on violence against women in conflict zones. 'It's very extensive, unfortunately. It has happened historically. It is taking one of the worst shapes in Congo. About a thousand women is getting raped every month in the last 12 years, according to the state department.' This post includes video and audio.

On 9 September 2010, the International Press Institute (IPI) granted the 'Free Media Pioneer' to Okapi Radio, the UN radio in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The radio has been broadcasting since 2002 in an effort to contribute to the peace building process in the country.

All sides in the conflict - Congolese and foreign armies and an alphabet soup of armed groups - have committed appalling abuses. Their killings, rape, burning, pillaging and forced labour have forced at least 1.2 million people from their homes in 2009 and early 2010 alone, bringing the number of displaced civilians in eastern Congo to almost 2 million.

Civil society is calling for an end to impunity for the harassment of human rights activists in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The renewed call comes as an activist kidnapped at the end of August have described their detention and torture by uniformed captors. Bwira Kyahi, president of civil society in Masisi, a town in the province of North Kivu, and another human rights advocate, Balisi Kapumba, who works as an organizer with the NGO Solidarity Action for Peace and Development, were kidnapped during the last week of August in Goma. Kyahi was found Aug. 30, 2010.

This 88-page report documents abuses against the displaced by all warring parties in all phases of displacement – during the attacks that uproot them; after they have been displaced and are living in the forests, with host families, or in camps; and after they or the authorities decide it is time for them to return home. The report is based on interviews with 146 people displaced from their homes in eastern Congo, as well as government officials, humanitarian workers, and journalists.

Conditions in Mugunga camp for displaced people on the outskirts of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma are tough, but tougher still are those endured by hundreds of people from the Bambuti Pygmy community living just outside the camp. “We can’t plant seeds here,” said Bambuti chief Mupepa Muhindo, scratching the ground, which is littered with lava from a 2002 volcanic eruption. “It's not possible to cultivate the land.” The Bambuti are believed to be among Central Africa’s oldest inhabitants. For generations they were nomadic forest-dwellers, living off the land, hunting and gathering.

Congolese authorities should open a prompt, impartial, and thorough investigation of the abduction and ill-treatment of a human rights defender in North Kivu province in late August 2010, a coalition of 36 international and Congolese human rights organizations has saidy. The authorities should publicly condemn this act and identify and bring to justice those responsible, the coalition said.

The United Nations is dispatching a senior staff member to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as senior officials express outrage at the recent rape and assault of more than 150 civilians by rebels based in the remote and troubled east of the country. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, condemned the attacks, saying they demonstrated the widespread level and systematic nature of sexual violence in the DRC.

The United Nations-sponsored radio station based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has the largest Francophone audience in sub-Saharan Africa, is the winner of this year’s Free Media Pioneer award bestowed by the International Press Institute (IPI). Radio Okapi is a partnership between the UN mission in the DRC, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, and the Hirondelle Foundation, a Swiss non-governmental organization (NGO).

On a typically busy morning in North Kivu’s capital city Goma, nobody at the bank paid much attention to Bosco Ntaganda and his bodyguards. It had been a hectic few days for the rebel commander-turned-army general, who had also attended meetings with the provincial governor and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila.

Apeda has received an intimation from the Embassy of India in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), about investment opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs. DRC has 80 million hectares of rich arable soil with water resources and 1000 mm of annual rainfall. Maniac, maize, rice, groundnut, sugarcane, corn, sweet potatoes, bananas, yams, pineapples are the principal crops produced.

In conversation with Pambazuka News, Executive Director Franck Kamunga of the Kinshasa-based Droits Humains Sans Frontières discusses the struggle for justice for murdered civil society activists in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In an interview about ICT (information and communication technology) and its social effects on women, GenderIT.org writer Mavic Cabrera-Balleza speaks with Sylvie Niombo and Francoise Mukuku, activists from Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) respectively.